Basingstoke Bison

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Basingstoke Bison
City Basingstoke, Hampshire, England
League NIHL
DivisionNational League
Founded1988
Home arena Planet Ice Basingstoke
Capacity: 2,000
ColoursWhite, Red, Black & Silver
    
Owner(s)Steve Nell & Rob Firmin
Head coachJeff Flanagan
CaptainGeorge Norcliffe Flag of England.svg
Website Basingstoke Bison
Franchise history
1988–95Basingstoke Beavers
1995–Basingstoke Bison

The Basingstoke Bison are an English Ice Hockey club from Basingstoke. They currently compete in the NIHL National League and have previously been members of the Ice Hockey Superleague and its successor the Elite Ice Hockey League.

Contents

History

Formed in 1988 as the Basingstoke Beavers, the club became the "Bison" in 1995. Their team logo is very similar to the "Goathead" used by the Buffalo Sabres from 1996 to 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 maintained their fan base and greatly enhanced local sponsorships and doubled their season ticket sales.[ citation needed ] 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 manager's post with American Hockey League club, 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. Sheppard set about building his roster around the core that he had inherited from Bernard. The Bison embarked upon a successful year under Sheppard, 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 the 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 8 November 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 25 March 2009, the Bison released a statement confirming that they would be joining the EPL for the 2009/10 season. [1] [2] Entry to the EPIHL was confirmed on 15 April 2009, [3] and Steve Moria took over as head coach the following day. [4]

After Moria's departure at the end of the 2011–2012 season, it was announced that Doug Sheppard would return as the Bison head coach for the 2012–2013 season. In March 2013, Sheppard signed another deal with the Basingstoke Bison to continue as head coach for the 2013–2014 season. [5]

The Basingstoke Bison won the 15/16 English Premier League title, under Doug Sheppard as coach. This ended their silverware drought of 23 years. [6] [7]

The 2017/18 season was arguably the Bison's greatest ever season. Remaining under Doug Sheppard, they secured a historic treble by winning the NIHL 1 South league, NIHL 1 South playoffs and finally the NIHL Final Four playoffs.

In 2018/19, the Bison had a major squad rebuild, with just 7 players remaining at the club from the previous season. With Doug Sheppard joining rivals Bracknell Bees, the Bison brought in British ice hockey veteran Ashley Tait as a player-coach. With Coventry Blaze legend Russell Cowley and imports Richard Bordowski and Michal Klejna, the Bison achieved an unlikely 3rd place finish in the league, and made their way to the cup final, which they lost to the Peterborough Phantoms.

Basingstoke announced they would sit out the 2023/24 NIHL season due to rink upgrade works. [8]

After a two-year hiatus, Basingstoke announced their return to play for the 2025/26 NIHL season under new ownership Steve Nell & Rob Firmin. [9]

Club roster 2022-23

(*) Denotes a Non-British Trained player (Import)

Netminders
No.Nat.PlayerCatchesDate of birthPlace of birthAcquiredContract
28 Flag of England.svg Alex MettamL1 February 1988 (age 37) Sheffield, England2018 from Bracknell Bees 22/23
33 Flag of England.svg Jordan LawdayL28 August 1998 (age 27) Basingstoke, England2021 from Telford Tigers 22/23
Defencemen
No.Nat.PlayerShootsDate of birthPlace of birthAcquiredContract
2 Flag of England.svg Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Adam JonesL10 January 1996 (age 29) Birmingham, England2021 from Sheffield Steelers 22/23
13 Flag of England.svg Marcus MitchellR1998 (age 24) Guildford, England2022 from Guildford Phoenix 22/23
44 Flag of England.svg Tom BannerR31 August 2002 (age 22) Basingstoke, England2021 from Basingstoke Buffalo 22/23
71 Flag of England.svg Josh KellyL23 April 2000 (age 25) Basingstoke, England2022 from Bees IHC 22/23
75 Flag of England.svg Brendan BairdR21 January 1996 (age 29) Southampton, England2020 from Bracknell Bees 22/23
77 Flag of Scotland.svg Jay KingR1 February 1996 (age 29) Edinburgh, Scotland2018 from Edinburgh Capitals 22/23
Forwards
No.Nat.PlayerShootsDate of birthPlace of birthAcquiredContract
9 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gaël-Mukeba Lubwele*R25 April 1996 (age 29) Montreal, QC, Canada2022 from Nipissing University 22/23
11 Flag of England.svg Hallam WilsonL24 April 1998 (age 27) Winchester, England2017 from Oxford City Stars 22/23
16 Flag of England.svg George Norcliffe 'C' R21 March 1994 (age 31) Guildford, England2018 from Bracknell Bees 22/23
17 Flag of Latvia.svg Edgars Landsbergs9 April 1999 (age 26) Daugavpils, Latvia2022 from MK Lightning 22/23
19 Flag of England.svg Paul PettsR21 January 1997 (age 28) Gosport, England2016 from Solent Devils 22/23
21 Flag of Slovakia.svg Marcel Balaz*L13 October 1988 (age 36) Trebišov, Slovakia2022 from Clermont 22/23
22 Flag of England.svg Roman Cathcart2006 (age 16) England 2022 from Basingstoke U1822/23
23 Flag of England.svg Oliver Hemmings-Maher2006 (age 16) England 2022 from Basingstoke U1822/23
24 Flag of England.svg Zack Milton 'A' L10 May 2001 (age 24) England 2021 from Bracknell Bees 22/23
61 Flag of England.svg Ryan SuttonL17 March 1995 (age 30) Basingstoke, England2019 from Bracknell Bees 22/23
74 Flag of Scotland.svg Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Liam Morris 'A' L7 April 1995 (age 30) Glenrothes, Scotland2018 from Northern Federals 22/23
88 Flag of Poland.svg Adrian DusznikL26 December 2000 (age 24)2022 from Guildford Phoenix 22/23
91 Flag of England.svg Aidan DoughtyL12 July 1995 (age 30) Isle of Wight, England2020 from Bracknell Bees 22/23
Team Staff
No.Nat.NameAcquiredRolePlace of birthJoined From
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jeff Flanagan2025-26Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Stratford, Canada Guelph Gryphons, U Sports
Flag of England.svg Gary Mitchell2017-18Equipment Manager England
Flag of England.svg Tony Skinns2002-03Equipment Manager England
Flag of England.svg Nikki Duffin2022-23Physical Therapist England

[10]

2021/22 Outgoing

Outgoing
No.Nat.PlayerShootsDate of birthPlace of birthLeaving For
4 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Adam HardingR3 January 1993 (age 32) Cardiff, Wales Bristol Pitbulls, NIHL
6 Flag of England.svg Ollie StoneL26 July 1998 (age 27) Swindon, England Swindon Wildcats, NIHL
13 Flag of England.svg Elliott DeweyR10 March 1997 (age 28) Basingstoke, England Raiders IHC, NIHL
21 Flag of England.svg Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Ash TaitR9 August 1975 (age 50) Toronto, ON, CanadaRetired
93 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Dan Weller-EvansL25 October 1993 (age 31) Bridgend, Wales Bees IHC, NIHL
94 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Alex RobertsR10 July 1994 (age 31) Burnaby, BC, Canada Bristol Pitbulls, NIHL

[11]


Honoured members

Basingstoke have only retired the number of two players, the first 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. In September 2009, it was announced that Don Yewchin, the original ice hockey coordinator for the Beavers in 1988 would have his number 12 jersey retired before Basingstoke's league game with local rivals Bracknell Bees on Saturday 10 October 2009. In a fantastic twist of fate, Basingstoke won the game 12–0. [12] [13] In 2016, Tony Redmond's number 20 shirt was retired when the club beat Telford Tigers 7-0. In 2018, the club held a testimonial match to celebrate Kurt Reynolds, as he took a time-out from hockey. [14]

Team honours

1989/90
1991/92
1992/93
1993/94
1994/95
1998/99
1999/00
2000/01
2003/04
2012/13
2013/14
2015/16
2017/18

Past head coaches

Notable players

Footnotes

  1. "News". Archived from the original on 29 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  2. "Bison to leave Elite League". Basingstoke Gazette. 26 March 2009. Archived from the original on 4 May 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  3. http://www.bstokebison.co.uk/news.php?ymid=0904&item=1&option=n%5B%5D
  4. "News". Archived from the original on 24 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  5. Graham Merry (20 March 2013). "Doug Sheppard signs new deal to lead Basingstoke Bison in 2013-14 (From Basingstoke Gazette)". Basingstokegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  6. Graham Merry. "AS IT HAPPENED - Basingstoke Bison are crowned league champions (From Basingstoke Gazette)". Basingstokegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  7. Harriet Jackson (14 March 2016). "Basingstoke Bison are crowned English Premier League champions (From Basingstoke Gazette)". Basingstokegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  8. "Bison to skip 2023/24 season".
  9. https://www.nihlnational.com/article/272-basingstoke-bison-set-to-return-to-the-nihl-for-25-25
  10. "Basingstoke Bison - Elite Prospects". www.eliteprospects.com.
  11. "Basingstoke Bison |". Archived from the original on 14 November 2014.
  12. "About Us : The Club". Basingstoke Ice Hockey Club. Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
  13. "Bison v Bees Highlights 10/10/09". YouTube. 10 October 2009. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  14. "Special game to honour Kurt Reynolds | Basingstoke Gazette".