BASINGSTOKE UK: The Bison have already re-signed five players, as they look to build a roster to retain their EPL Championship.
Four forwards captain Aaron Connolly, Ciaran Long, Tomas Karpov and Rene Jarolin along with defenseman Kurt Reynolds.
Leading goal scorer last term Karpov and Jarolin will fill two of the Herd’s five import berth, after the amount of imports for the EPL was raised this week.
The other three re-signing are some of the top British talent in the EPL and one of these Connolly will return as captain once more.
This will be his third campaign with the Bison and last term was the best to date for the Northfleet-born forward as he enjoyed a career high 23 goals in a points tally of 48
He is sure to have reached a half century had he not been injured on the final weekend of the league campaign, forcing him to sit out the play-offs.
The Herd top British goal scorer Long is also back for his fifth season in two spells in Hampshire, the 25-year-old from Birmingham was key point man on the powerplay and added 29 goals to his 36 assists in league and play-off games last season.
He was another player the fans were delighted to see back, as is Reynolds on the blue line. The Basingstoke-born defenseman started his career in the junior programme at the club and via Guildford, North America and Bracknell returned home in 2008.
So this will be his ninth straight season with the Herd and now only Tony Redmond has made more league appearances for the organisation than the 29-year-old.
Leading goal scorer Karpov is back for a fourth straight year having arrived in Hampshire from Telford in 2013. He scored 35 goals in a points total of 64 and next season will become the all-time top points scorer in the EPL for the Herd.
The 27-year-old hails from  Benesov in the Czech Republic and is a former junior international. He spent two years in the WHL playing for Moose Jaw Warriors and Calgary Hitmen between 2007-09, otherwise he has either played in Britain or in his home land.
Karpov, Long and Reynolds were all first team All Star players for the EPL, while Jarolin was voted onto the second team after a mid season switch to the Bison from Milton Keynes Lightning.
In 37 games he scored 26 goals and also added 28 assists for very impressive stats by the end of the season. He was born in Skalica in Slovakia and spent all his career there until he joined the Edinburgh Capitals, where he was the leading goal scorer in the Elite League in his first season.
“I am really pleased to have re-signed all five of these players as they give us a real core to build on and there will be some more re-signings,” said Bison head coach Doug Sheppard.
With the increase in the import quota, the Canadian head coach could well now replace departed top British forward Joe Greener with an import forward. Only time will tell during the summer recruitment.
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