BASINGSTOKE UK: Another import Jon Baston will make his debut for the Basingstoke Bison this week between the pipes due to an injury to Slovak shot stopper Tomas Hiadlovsky.
The Finnish-born goaltender started the season with the Hull Pirates and was released a fortnight ago being replaced by the more experienced Martins Raitums.
However, Baston proved to be a big hit when he played for the Pirates against the Bison earlier in the season as he took his side all the way to a penalty shoot-out, which unfortunately they lost.
The arrival of Baston comes on hot on the heels of new import forward Rene Jarolin who had a dream debut for the Herd as he returned 2+3 in a 7-2 home victory over the Hull Pirates.
Jarolin ended the game plus four and it took him only 12 seconds to collect his first point for this new team as he started the move which led to Ciaran Long scoring.
Jarolin’s line then struck again on their next shift as Joe Greener scored which was his 200th league point for the club and he became only the 14th player to reach this landmark.
Hiadlovsky was then forced out of the contest at 7:12 and replaced by British shot stopper Dan Weller-Evans.
Hull were next to score on the powerplay from their player/coach Dominic Osman, but the Bison led 3-1 at the first buzzer after Tomas Karpov scored.
The second session saw Jarolin score twice in the space of two minutes and he could have had a period hat-trick, but was unable to convert a penalty shot.
The final 20 minutes, saw the Bison extend their lead further from Aaron Connolly, before Pasi Salonen pulled a goal back.
The scoring in the match was completed 22.2 seconds from time when Ryan Watt scored close in on the powerplay.
The game also saw Basingstoke-born Kurt Reynolds play his 350th league game for the game and this weekend he will pass Dean Skinns 351 games to move into second place in the club’s all-time appearances.
The leader of this is Tony Redmond and the Scottish forward will have his number 20 shirt retired this Saturday before the Bison take on the Telford Tigers on home ice.
Redmond was a great servant to the club with over 600 appearances and he is also the club’s top British goal scorer and points scorer.
It is sure to be a great night and the last time the Bison retired a shirt that being the number 12 of Don Yewchin they won the game 12-0.
It is asking far too much to think the Herd will win 20-0 this weekend, even if it would be a fitting tribute to Redmond.
On Sunday night, the Bison have their first road game in three weeks with a trip to Manchester.
“I am really pleased to be able to sign Jon and he will make his debut against Telford. We have a tough run of games coming up now and it would be great to get a four point weekend to keep in the shake-up for top spot,” said Bison head coach Doug Sheppard.
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