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Basingstoke Bison

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Basingstoke Bison
File:LogoBasingstokeBison.jpg
League English Premier Ice Hockey League
Founded 1988
History 'Basingstoke Beavers'
1988-95
'Basingstoke Bison'
since 1995
Arena Planet Ice Silverdome
Capacity 1,800
City Basingstoke, Hampshire, England
Team Colours Black, White, Red & Green
Head coach Steve Moria
Owners Planet Ice
Team Captain Brent Hughes

The Basingstoke Bison are an English ice hockey club from Basingstoke.

History

Formed in 1988 as the Basingstoke Beavers, the club soon became the butt of jokes when it was realised that Canadian players would not sign for a club whose name is Canadian slang for a part of the female anatomy.[citation needed]

The "Beavers" became the "Bison" in 1995. Their team logo (see right) is very similar to that used by the Buffalo Sabres from 1996-2006.

Joining the Superleague in 1996, the Bison dropped out in 1998 and joined the British National League. In 2003 they joined the newly formed Elite Ice Hockey League.

Despite being one of the lower budget teams in the EIHL, the Bison have maintained their fan base and greatly enhanced local sponsorships and doubled their season ticket sales.

This success is mainly testament to the hard work of Mark Bernard, who occupied the General Manager and Head Coach role with the club during the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons. Bernard also stepped into the Netminder's role part way through the latter season after Jayme Platt had left the team!

In May 2006, Bernard left the club to take up the Assistant General Managers post at American Hockey League side the Norfolk Admirals. Prior to his departure, Bernard secured the services of a number of the players that made up the 05/06 roster.

In June 2006, Planet Ice announced that the new player / coach of the club would be former club captain Doug Sheppard, with former Bison and London Racers defenceman Duncan Dalmao returning as player / assistant coach. Shepherd set about building his roster around the core that he had inherited from Bernard.

Bison embarked upon a successful year under Shepherd, securing their highest ever Elite League finish, and taking many points off the top sides in the League.

In April 2007, David Taylor, owner of Bracknell Bees, purchased the Bison. He appointed Ryan Aldridge as the Head Coach of the team, signalling the end of Doug Shepherd's reign. Shepherd went on to join rivals Sheffield Steelers.

Following financial problems, which had resulted in the departure of a number of players (including starting netminder Stevie Lyle), Taylor relinquished ownership of the Bison and the team's new owner was announced as Tomas Enerston by Planet Ice on November 8th, 2007.

Less than a year later, following further financial difficulty, Planet Ice put together a rescue package to keep Bison on the ice until the end of the 2008/09 season.

On the 25th of March 2009, the Bison released a statement confirming that they will be joining the EPL for the 2009/10 season.[1][2] Entry to the EPIHL was confirmed on 15th April 2009,[3] and Steve Moria took over as Head Coach the following day.[4]

Club Roster 09/10

Goaltenders
Number Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
47 United Kingdom Davey Lawrence L 2009 Barnsley, England
95 United Kingdom Tom Annetts L 2009 Reading, England
Defencemen
Number Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
4 United Kingdom Sam Zajac R 2009 Whitley, England
7 United Kingdom Kurt Reynolds L 2008 Basingstoke, England
20 United Kingdom Tony Redmond R 2009 Scotland
21 United Kingdom Sam Oakford R 2009 Kingston-Upon-Hull, England
33 Lithuania Mindaugas Kieras R 2009 Vilnius, Lithuania
Forwards
Number Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
5 United Kingdom Jamie Line R 2009 Luton, England
9 Canada Joe Ciccarello R 2009 Calgary, Alberta, Canada
16 United Kingdom Andy Hemmings R 2008 Guildford, England
19 Canada Steve Moria L 2009 Vancouver, B.C., Canada
27 United Kingdom Nicky Chinn R 2009 Cardiff, Wales
28 United Kingdom Chris Wiggins R 2009 Guildford, England
44 United Kingdom Scott Spearing L 2009 Swindon, England
67 Slovenia Ondrej Lauko L 2009 Topolcany, Slovakia
71 United Kingdom Tom Long R 2009 Colchester, England
91 United Kingdom Oliver Brönnimann R 2008 Fribourg, Switzerland

Honoured members

Basingstoke have only retired the number of one player, that being Kevin Conway's number 10 in 2005 following his initial retirement from ice hockey. In the 2005–06 season, Tony Redmond was honoured with a testimonial season.[5]

Team Honours

1989/89
  • Champions - English Div 1 Promotion Play-offs
1991/92
  • Winners - Southern Cup
1992/93
  • Champions - Heineken Division One
  • Champions - Heineken Div 1 Promomtion Play-offs
  • Runners-up - Southern Cup
1993/94
  • Runners-up - Southern Cup
1994/95
  • Runners-up - Southern Cup
1998/99
  • Runners-up - British National Ice Hockey League
  • Runners-up - Christmas Cup
1999/00
  • Winners - B & H Plate
  • Runners-up - ntl: Christmas Cup
  • Runners-up - BNL Play-off Championships
2000/01
  • Winners - B & H Plate
  • Runners-up - Findus British National Ice Hockey League
  • Runners-up - FBNL Play-off Championships
2003/04

Past Head Coaches

  • Doug Sheppard - 2006-2007 - Player / Head Coach
  • Mark Bernard - 2004-2006 - Player / Head Coach / General Manager
  • Steve Moria - 2002-2004 - Player / Head Coach
  • Charlie Colon - 2000-2002 - Head Coach
  • Rick Strachan - 1999-2000 - Player / Head Coach
  • Don Depoe - 1998-1999 - Head Coach

Past Players

Footnotes

  1. ^ http://www.bstokebison.co.uk/news.php?ymid=0903&item=13&option=n
  2. ^ "Bison to leave Elite League". Basingstoke Gazette. 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
  3. ^ http://www.bstokebison.co.uk/news.php?ymid=0904&item=1&option=n
  4. ^ http://www.bstokebison.co.uk/news.php?ymid=0904&item=2&option=n
  5. ^ "About Us : The Club". Basingstoke Ice Hockey Club. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
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