Basingstoke Bison
CityBasingstoke, Hampshire, England
League NIHL
DivisionNational League
Founded1988
Home arenaPlanet Ice Silverdome
Capacity: 2,000
ColoursWhite, Red, Black & Silver
       
Owner(s)Planet Ice
Head coachAshley Tait EnglandCanada
CaptainGeorge Norcliffe England
WebsiteBasingstoke 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. Unfortunately due to arena refurbishment/renovation the team is unable to compete in the upcoming 2023/24 Season

History

Formed in 1988 as the Basingstoke Beavers, the club became the "Bison" in 1995. Their team logo is very similar to that 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. 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]

Club roster 2022-23

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

Netminders
No. Nat. Player Catches Date of birth Place of birth Acquired Contract
28 England Alex Mettam L 1 February 1988 Sheffield, England 2018 from Bracknell Bees 22/23
33 England Jordan Lawday L 28 August 1998 Basingstoke, England 2021 from Telford Tigers 22/23
Defencemen
No. Nat. Player Shoots Date of birth Place of birth Acquired Contract
2 EnglandCanada Adam Jones L 10 January 1996 Birmingham, England 2021 from Sheffield Steelers 22/23
13 England Marcus Mitchell R 1998 (age 24) Guildford, England 2022 from Guildford Phoenix 22/23
44 England Tom Banner R 31 August 2002 Basingstoke, England 2021 from Basingstoke Buffalo 22/23
71 England Josh Kelly L 23 April 2000 Basingstoke, England 2022 from Bees IHC 22/23
75 England Brendan Baird R 21 January 1996 Southampton, England 2020 from Bracknell Bees 22/23
77 Scotland Jay King R 1 February 1996 Edinburgh, Scotland 2018 from Edinburgh Capitals 22/23
Forwards
No. Nat. Player Shoots Date of birth Place of birth Acquired Contract
9 Canada Gaël-Mukeba Lubwele* R 25 April 1996 Montreal, QC, Canada 2022 from Nipissing University 22/23
11 England Hallam Wilson L 24 April 1998 Winchester, England 2017 from Oxford City Stars 22/23
16 England George Norcliffe 'C' R 21 March 1994 Guildford, England 2018 from Bracknell Bees 22/23
17 Latvia Edgars Landsbergs 9 April 1999 Daugavpils, Latvia 2022 from MK Lightning 22/23
19 England Paul Petts R 21 January 1997 Gosport, England 2016 from Solent Devils 22/23
21 Slovakia Marcel Balaz* L 13 October 1988 Trebišov, Slovakia 2022 from Clermont 22/23
22 England Roman Cathcart 2006 (age 16) England 2022 from Basingstoke U18 22/23
23 England Oliver Hemmings-Maher 2006 (age 16) England 2022 from Basingstoke U18 22/23
24 England Zack Milton 'A' L 10 May 2001 England 2021 from Bracknell Bees 22/23
61 England Ryan Sutton L 17 March 1995 Basingstoke, England 2019 from Bracknell Bees 22/23
74 ScotlandCanada Liam Morris 'A' L 7 April 1995 Glenrothes, Scotland 2018 from Northern Federals 22/23
88 Poland Adrian Dusznik L 26 December 2000 2022 from Guildford Phoenix 22/23
91 England Aidan Doughty L 12 July 1995 Isle of Wight, England 2020 from Bracknell Bees 22/23
Team Staff
No. Nat. Name Acquired Role Place of birth Joined From
EnglandCanada Ash Tait 2018-19 Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Toronto, Ontario, Canada Coventry Blaze, EIHL
2 EnglandCanada Adam Jones 2022-23 Player-Assistant Coach Birmingham, England Sheffield Steelers, EIHL
Scotland Tony Redmond 2009-10 Assistant Coach Glasgow, Scotland Slough Jets, EPIHL
England Gary Mitchell 2017-18 Equipment Manager England
England Tony Skinns 2002-03 Equipment Manager England
England Nikki Duffin 2022-23 Physical Therapist England

[9]


2021/22 Outgoing

Outgoing
No. Nat. Player Shoots Date of birth Place of birth Leaving For
4 Wales Adam Harding R 3 January 1993 Cardiff, Wales Bristol Pitbulls, NIHL
6 England Ollie Stone L 26 July 1998 Swindon, England Swindon Wildcats, NIHL
13 England Elliott Dewey R 10 March 1997 Basingstoke, England Raiders IHC, NIHL
21 EnglandCanada Ash Tait R 9 August 1975 Toronto, ON, Canada Retired
93 Wales Dan Weller-Evans L 25 October 1993 Bridgend, Wales Bees IHC, NIHL
94 Canada Alex Roberts R 10 July 1994 Burnaby, BC, Canada Bristol Pitbulls, NIHL

[10]


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.[11][12] 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. [13]

Team honours

1989/90
  • Champions – English Div 1 Promotion Play-offs
1991/92
  • Winners – Southern Cup
1992/93
  • Champions – Heineken Division One
  • Champions – Heineken Div 1 Promotion 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
2012/13
  • Runners-up – English Premier Ice Hockey League
2013/14
  • Winners – English Premier Ice Hockey League Cup
  • Runners-up – English Premier Ice Hockey League
  • Winners – English Premier Ice Hockey League Play-off Championship
2015/16
  • Champions – English Premier Ice Hockey League
2017/18
  • Champions – NIHL Britton League Division 1
  • Champions - NIHL Britton League Play-Offs
  • Champions - NIHL National Final Four Play-Offs

Past head coaches

  • Ashley Tait – 2018 – present – Player / head coach
  • Doug Sheppard – 2012 – 2018 – Player / head coach
  • Steve Moria – 2009–2012 – Player / head coach
  • Ryan Aldridge – 2007–2009 – Player / head coach
  • 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

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. ↑ "Basingstoke Bison - Elite Prospects". www.eliteprospects.com.
  10. ↑ "Basingstoke Bison |". Archived from the original on 14 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "About Us : The Club". Basingstoke Ice Hockey Club. Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
  12. ↑ "Bison v Bees Highlights 10/10/09". YouTube. 10 October 2009. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  13. ↑ "Special game to honour Kurt Reynolds | Basingstoke Gazette".
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