Basingstoke Bison

History

1988-91	1991-93	1993-95
1995-98	1998/99	1999-2003
	2003-06

1988/89

Basingstoke Ice Rink opened for business in April 1988, and the ice hockey team skated out in September. The newly formed side were given the name the BEAVERS and immediately got the backing of local firm Wella. The Beavers consisted of mainly young players from Bournemouth, Slough, Richmond and Oxford, later on, the newly closed Southampton rink provided more talent.
Don Yewchin coached the team in their debut season, Don and defenceman Gary Douville, the only two imports, were heavily relied upon. The importance of an import was highlighted by the fact that Yewchin scored 221 points for the Beavers in that year.
The team managed to finish fourth that year despite losing 14 games and drawing once in 28 matches.

1989/90

The second year looked promising, but a number of bad defeats halted their progress. The Beavers added more depth to their young squad with the additions of import Tim Salmon, re-classified defenceman Kenny Duncan and British signings Tim Steadman and the Adams brothers (Jamie and Jason).
Again the Beavers had a yoyo season finishing fifth overall, but a late decision meant they were allowed into the play-offs. The Beavers took full advantage of the change of rules.
Led by scoring duo Salmon and Yewchin, they stormed through the play-offs losing just one match. This success promoted them to the national league, much to the despair of local rivals Bracknell, who were pushed into third place, after dominating the league for most of the season.

1990/91

Beavers first year in British Division One proved to be tough. Yewchin continued to take charge, but much needed changes were not made to the squad until a record loss in October, 16 - 0!
In came physical defenceman Mike Rowe and Streatham signings Nicky Iandoli and Jim Johnston. Mike made a big impact on the team, unfortunately he will mostly be remembered for his 250 penalty minutes.
The Beavers finished a disappointing seventh missing out on a play-off place. After this hard year Don and Mike parted company with the team.

1991/92

For the Beavers their second year in BD1 was completely different story. New coach Peter Woods led the team along with new signing, top scorer Kevin Conway. Kevin teamed up again with Tim Salmon, hoping to revive their successful partnership from past years at Telford. Another Canadian signing was Mark Marintette, the defenceman brought in to replace Mike Rowe.
British signings included Steve Nell and Kenny Redmond.
A steady season saw the Hampshire club finish 3rd, while Fife won the league and returned to the Premier Division.

1992/93

The 1992/93 was the most successful year ever for the Basingstoke club.
The season started in controversy as Peter Woods let go fans favourite - Tim Salmon. Any bad feelings were quickly forgotten though as new faces brought an incredible year of wins.
The new team was small, but the brilliant combination of top three scorers, Kevin Conway, Rick Fera, and Mario Belanger created a deadly concoction.
The defensive skills of import Russ Parent and goalies Neil Peters and Jeff Smith gave the Beavers the edge to go all the way to to the top. Indeed after winning 28 out of 32 games the Beavers looked unstoppable.
A top spot in the playoffs led them victoriously into the Premier, five years after the team had begun.

1993/94

The Beavers soon felt the strain of moving up a league, this was new ground for them and the tough standard of play ensured that the Beavers were no longer going to be top dogs in this initiation year.
New coach Troy Walkington had a tough act to follow as Peter left for Norway, with him went Rick Fera and Nicky Iandoli to name a few.
New arrivals included Drew Chapman and Dave Whistle, who failed to lift the gloom.
Another disruption finished off this sobering season when Troy Walkington walked out and left ex Beaver Gary Douville to pick up the pieces.
Not surprisingly the Beavers finished 9th out of 12, failing to make the play-offs.

1994/95

Gary Douville continued to coach the Beavers in their 2nd season in the Premier. In skated new players Chris Brant, Stan Marple, Chris and Phil Chard and Mike Wagstaff.
Chris Brant promised to be a new high scoring fan favourite, but after a slow start he left for near neighbours Bracknell, to be replaced by Barclay Pearce.
An average season saw them finish in seventh place, and a blitz of new faces before the deadline saw Brandon Flynn and Lee Saunders arrive.
Beavers changed coach yet again at the start of the play-offs when Peter arrived back to start his new 3 year contract.
The team finished out of the Wembley places, but were looking good for the next season.

1995/96

The 1995/96 season saw a host of new players in an attempt to make a mark on the Premier. This great time of change was not only in the players but also in the name. Basingstoke's team was newly named the Bison and swapped their distinctive red shirts for Yellow ones.
Among the new players were Rick Strachan, Richard Little, Mark McCoy, Merv Priest and Doug Sinclair, all imports highlighting the new passport ruling.
New British players included Colin Hamilton and Lee Carson, part of the decreasing British population among ice hockey clubs.
This year the Bison finished 7th and put up a good fight in the playoffs beating Sheffield in their first match. However, Wembley was not to be, and after a series of losses in the final stages of playoffs Bison were denied a place in the Semi-finals.

1996/97

For the 1996/97 season more changes were made. Bison fans watched firm favourite Russ Parent leave for Scotland as well as Mark McCoy, Lee Carson and a number of the new additions from last year.
Stepping in to replace them were Forwards Chris Maybury, Blake Knox and Darren Hurley and defencemen Steve Brown and Jamie Black. Richard Gallace was the new Goalie for the Bison alongside Bill Morrison who departed later that season, leaving Gallace to defend the net.
This was Bison's worst season in league positions, a last place finish which didn't reflect the generally good hockey seen in Basingstoke that year. However it wasn't all bad, Bison reached the Semi Finals in the Benson and Hedges cup a first for the team.

1997/98

As in recent years there were major changes to the Bison line-up. Long-serving British players Tony Redmond and Anthony Page departed to Slough and Guildford respectively. New faces to the Herd included Sonny Mignacca. Mike Shewan, Shane Dungey, Jason Kendall, Graham Garden, Matt Sharrers and later in the season Blair Scott, Craig Teeple and Andre Racicot.
But a change in personnel did nothing to lift the black cloud that had settled over the Hampshire club.
The year began disappointingly when the Bison failed to follow the previous year's fortunes in the Benson and Hedges Cup, as they went out in the Quarter-Finals.
The Superleague started with some promising results, but a dismal run of losses towards the end of the season saw Bison finish 7th in the league and Express Cup.
The close of the season brought more heartache for Basingstoke fans as the club's financial difficulties saw them bail out of the Superleague.

1998/99

The 1998/99 season marked 10 years of ice hockey in the town of Basingstoke and a new era of hockey as the team joined the BNL. The summer between leagues saw major changes to the Bison side as new coach Don Depoe put together a team from scratch. Rick Strachan was the only player to return from the previous season's team and added assistant coach to his job title. Tony Redmond and Anthony Page returned after a season away, while Chris Chard and Rick Fera also decided to wear Basingstoke shirts once again.

New to the Hampshire club came Canadians Mitch Grant, Mike Ellis, Chris Crombie, Ian Pound, Steve Smillie, Wayne Crawford and Darrin Zinger, Swedes Bjarne Levison and Hakan Klys and Brits Jake Armstrong, Chris Bailey, Gary Clark and Mark Barrow. Local players Alec Field, Adam Cathcart and Joe Baird also moved up to play for the senior team.

The Herd started the season playing in the English Cup, narrowly missing out on a Finals place by the odd goal to Milton Keynes. By Christmas the Bison were the league leaders of the BNL and a seasonal break from league action saw them compete in the Christmas Cup. Bison won through to the Finals but were beaten by the Peterborough Pirates. As the league resumed 4 games in the last few weeks against the Slough Jets decided the title as the Jets won 3 out of the four encounters to take the league title by 2 points.
The play-offs saw the Herd reach the Finals weekend but they lost out in the semis to the Jets.

A fantastic first year for the new look Bison, whose effort and commitment saw them come close to taking a trophy - next year they will be aiming to go one step further.

1999/2000

Bison followed a BNL trend in the 1999/2000 season by employing a player/coach. Rick Strachan took over the position from Don Depoe and was joined by ex-Slough coach Charlie Colon as Bench Coach. Strachan built on the 98/99 team’s strengths. Mitch Grant re-signed and was made Captain. Armstrong, Baird, Barrow, Cathcart, Crawford, Clark, Ellis, Field and Redmond all rejoined. Danny Meyers moved to a permanent position on the squad and Joe Watkins took over the No.1 position in goal. New Canadians signed were Dru Burgess, Cam Law, Mark McGrath, Duncan Paterson and Peter Romeo.

Bison’s first competition of the season was the Benson and Hedges Plate. A good start saw them top their group and progress through to the quarter-finals. At the same time a number of team changes took place. Cathcart moved to the Basingstoke Buffalo, Armstrong joined Solihull Blaze, Law joined Tallahassee and McGrath was forced out of action through injury. In came Canadians Dwayne Newman and Jeff Daniels from Telford, and Brits Adam Greener and Michael Knights. While the Bison won though to the finals of the B and H Plate, they had an inconsistent start to their league campaign. This all changed after the B and H Final. A 5-1 win over the Slough Jets, (with Brian Mason and Greg Gatto playing in place of the injured Newman and Grant) launched the Herd’s season. Bison moved up the BNL table lead by the in-form Wayne “Reggie” Crawford.

The Christmas Holidays saw the Herd reach the final of the ntl: Cup, losing narrowly to Fife Flyers. Peter Romeo returned home injured and Debb Carpenter took over his spot, with 16 year old Tom Pope also receiving a regular position on the team.

Bison continued to put pressure on Fife and Guildford, but had to settle for third place in the league, with Fife taking the title. Mitch Grant also returned home injured, with Brian Mason once again being called up to play for the Herd.

The last competition of the season, the BNL Championships saw the Bison once again reach the final only to be beaten by the in-form Fife Flyers. Fife took the 5 game series 3-0.

Overall a very successful season as the Bison challenged for every trophy and won the B and H Plate for the first time.

2000/1

For the 2000/1 season the Bison again found their Coach by promoting from within the organisation, bench coach Charlie Colon taking up the position of Head Coach. Captain and player Mike Ellis was made assistant coach. The majority of the Bison's personnel changes were made to the defence. Stephen Foster was signed as the Herd's number 1 goalie, with Alec Field re-signing as backup. New 'D' men signed for the season were Matt Cote, Neil Liddiard, James Manson, Jimmy Andersson, Andy Morgan and 'spare' import Peter Nyman. Adam Greener and Brian Mason both returned for a second season. There were fewer changes to the forwards, Redmond, Ellis, Daniels, Burgess, Meyers, Baird, Clark and Pope re-signing. Richard Little was back in the line-up after a two year absence and American Albie O'Connell joined for his first season in Britain.

Autumn 2000 saw the Bison play in the group stage of the Benson and Hedges Plate, with the Herd looking to retain the trophy they won the previous season. After finishing second in Group D the Herd faced Fife Flyers in the semi-final. Richard Little scoring the game winning overtime goal that set up a final in December against Guildford Flames. The final, played at Sheffield Arena, was the highlight of Basingstoke's year as the Bison (with guest players Jason Coles & Nyman) beat the Flames 3-2 to keep the Plate in Hampshire.

Bison started the league campaign in September with several key members of the squad injured. Despite this set-back the Herd weathered the storm, as the first half of the season saw a close battle for top spot between 6 sides, Guildford, Coventry, Fife, Peterborough Hull and Basingstoke.

In December it was time for Christmas Cup action. The Bison though were unable to make it 3 Xmas Cup finals in a row as they crashed out in the group stage. Guilford Flames beat Fife Flyers in the final to take the silverware.

With the ntl: Christmas Cup behind them the Herd returned to the second half of the BNL fixtures. January saw the Herd put together a run of wins, including 2 over Coventry Blaze, which put them on top of the BNL. At the end of January Canadian Rob Douglas and Welshman Jonathan Phillips signed as Bison hit more injury trouble. A nail-biting end to the season saw the title decided by the final game between Flames and Bison. Guildford taking the honours after a 5-1 win.

In the play-offs the Bison won their group and faced Peterborough Pirates in the semi-finals, winning 5-3 on aggregate. In the Final Guildford Flames again proved to be too hot to handle as the Bison went down 12-4 on aggregate.

Another successful BNL campaign for Basingstoke as they retained the Benson and Hedges Plate and were runners-up in both league and play-off competitions.

2001/2

In 2001/2 the Bison's coaching staff stayed the same as the previous season as Charlie Colon continued as Head Coach with Captain Mike Ellis as assistant coach/ player. In contrast to the 2000/1 season the majority of the Herd's changes were made to the offence part of the Bison’s squad. Canadians Burgess, Little and Ellis, and Brits Baird and Leary all re-signed and were joined by Ryan Aldridge, Jake Armstrong, Chris Brant, Gary Clarke, Richard Hargreaves, and Derek Higdon. In defence Jimmy Andersson, Matt Cote, Adam Greener, Neil Liddiard, James Manson, and Andy Morgan all returned to Basingstoke, with former Beavers player Andy Pickles also re-signing. The Bison netminding duties this year were shared by Robert Schistad (who replaced Stephen Foster in late September 2001) and 16 year old Dean Skinns.

The season started with a new competition, the Findus Challenge Cup, this replaced the Benson & Hedges Plate. Basingstoke were hoping to continue their previous seasons' successes and make it 3 autumn trophies in a row. The Bison progressed comfortably through to the semi-finals after topping Group 4, dropping just one point in the first game, which they drew with Slough Jets. The semi-finals and finals were played over a weekend in Nottingham at the end of November with the Wella Bison playing in the first semi-final against Coventry Blaze. The Bison looked to have booked their place in the final when they led 3-0 going into the final 20 minutes, but Coventry staged a remarkable comeback and eventually won the game in a penalty shoot-out. The next day the Bison's opponents met the Fife Flyers in the final where the Scottish team took the Findus Challenge Cup title after a 6-3 win.

In the league campaign the Bison had an inconsistent year as they seesawed between some great team performances, like their 6-1 win over the Guildford Flames, and some games where they failed to get the stampede going. It was also a frustrating season as the team’s hard work did not always produce the win they deserved. Throughout the season there were ongoing personnel changes as the Bison looked to keep up the pressure on the league leaders. Stephen Foster was the first to depart in the first month of the season, followed by Richard Hargreaves and Andy Pickles who both returned to Isle of Wight. Forward Rob Lamey replaced Richard Hargreaves after he was released from Guildford. Around Christmas time there were further changes as Basingstoke released Chris Brant, Derek Higdon and Andy Morgan. New signings were Dustin Lattery, Chris Crombie and Nick Cross. As the league campaign drew to a close and the playoffs approached the Bison put in some of their best results to finish 4th in the FBNL. Dundee were crowned the 2001/2 League Champions in their debut season, losing just 4 games on their way to the title. Unfortunately the Bison couldn't turn their season around in the playoffs as they finished 3rd in Group 1 behind Dundee and Guildford, missing out on a semi-final spot for the first time since joining the British National League. Dundee were the eventual winners, beating Coventry Blaze in the final.

2002/3

In 2002/3 newly promoted Director of Hockey Charlie Colon's first task was to appoint his successor. In came Steve Moria as Player-coach joined by Mike Ellis who continued as assistant coach/player. Moria started his team building with the netminder position, capturing Canadian Scott Hay and re-signing Dean Skinns for a second season as the Wella Bison's back-up netminder. Also returning to Hampshire was the defensive duo of Neil Liddiard and Matt Cote, and forwards Chris Crombie, Nick Cross and Ryan Aldridge. Three more Canadians were signed up, defencemen Daryl Lavoie and Benoit Cotnoir and forward Peter Campbell. New British players joining the Herd in 2002/3 were Paul Berrington, Joe Greener, Marc Levers and Ashley Skinns.

The Wella Bison started the season competing in the Findus Cup. A delay with Benoit Cotnoir's work permit saw AJ Kelham signed up for the weekend, but the Canadian ended up staying for a further couple of months as Steve Moria received a knee injury in the Herd's first home game. Basingstoke finished third out of five in Group A, with Guildford and Coventry (Group A) and Dundee and Newcastle (Group B) progressing to the finals in Newcastle. Newcastle Vipers were the eventual winners of the cup, lifting their first silverware in their debut FBNL season.

For the first half of the league campaign the Wella Bison kept themselves in the top three with local rivals Guildford always close behind. November saw Manchester Storm drop out of the ISL, with the Bison quickly signing up ISL defenceman Dwight Parrish. Benoit Cotnoir was released to make away for Parrish. January saw the Herd produce some of their best hockey of the season as they took a point off Coventry in a nail-biting overtime game at home, followed by their first ever win over Dundee and a hard fought overtime victory in Cardiff. As the league campaign drew to a close in February four teams, the Wella Bison, Guildford, Edinburgh and Cardiff were all battling for positions 3 to 6 with the final standings being decided in the final weekend. Basingstoke beat Edinburgh (home) and Dundee (away) to take 4th place behind the Flames, with Cardiff and Edinburgh finishing 5th and 6th respectively. Coventry Blaze won the FBNL title with 62points.

The Bison's league placing meant that they joined Coventry, Cardiff and Newcastle in Play-off Group A. The Herd had the worst possible start to the Playoffs losing 3 close games in 4 days and ended up finishing 3rd behind Coventry Blaze and Cardiff Devils. After winning their respective semi-finals the Blaze and Devils ended up meeting in the Play-off Final with Coventry adding the John Brady Bowl to their trophy cabinet.

2003/2004

It was all change for the Basingstoke Wella Bison in 2003 as the Herd moved to the newly formed Elite Ice Hockey league and revamped their uniform and logo.

On the ice it was all-change too as Player-coach Steve Moria signed a new International team to compete with the new Elite opposition. The new look Basingstoke team included the first Austrian and Czech Republic players ever to wear a Bison shirt, alongside players from Canada, USA, Finland and Great Britain. Minding the Bison goal was taken over by Curtis Cruickshank, with Basingstoke born Dean Skinns staying for a third season. The new defencemen were: Captain Phil Roy, Dave Geris, Kim Vahanen, Chris Slater and James Hutchinson. Joining the Bison up front were: Joe Ciccarello, Matt Reid, Blake Sorensen, Martin Filip, Christian Widauer, Markku Takala and Richard Hargreaves.

After a shaky first weekend the Basingstoke crowd were treated to some great Elite League hockey. In the first half of the season the Bison highlights included winning in Nottingham for the first time and comprehensively beating Belfast at home 7-2. The end of 2003 saw some personnel changes as Chris Slater returned to America and Markku Takala left for Norway. In came defenceman Doug Schueller and former Bison player Darren Hurley made a welcome return to Hampshire.

By the midway point of the season the Bison were locked in a three-way battle for the final two play-off spots with Cardiff and Manchester. In the New Year Matt Reid returned to America and the Bison signed their second player from the Czech Republic Jaromir Kverka. The Bison kept battling to the end of season, winning their first match in Belfast and beating Coventry 5-1 at home, but in the end it wasn't enough as Cardiff and Manchester pushed past the Herd into 5th and 6th places respectively, leaving Basingstoke with an early finish to the season in 7th.

Honours were split between Sheffield and Nottingham with the Steelers winning the league title and Play-offs, while the Panthers defeated the Steelers in overtime to win the Challenge Cup.

2004/2005

2004-05 was yet another season of change for the Wella Bison as Mark Bernard took over as Head/Coach and General Manager. Jeff Flanagan joined the team as assistant coach. The only returnees were netminder Dean Skinns and forward Shaun Thompson, with the rest of team newly recruited for the 2004-05 campaign.

Joining Dean Skinns in goal was Ronnie Vogel, who signed a two-year contract with the Herd. In defence Mark Bernard signed a quartet of players who were all new to the UK, Canadians Duncan Dalmao, Jerry Galway and Owen Walter and Slovakian Jozef Lukac. British defenceman Ricky Skene completed the defensive team. Upfront in came Canadians Shawn Maltby, Mike Ford, Doug Sheppard, Jeff Ewasko, and Jeff Corey alongside Brits Tony Redmond (returning for his 9th season), Lewis Buckman and Dominic Hopkins.

The Wella Bison’s league campaign started with a bang as Jeff Ewasko and Andre Payette went toe-to-toe after 4 seconds in the Herd 4-4 opening game draw with Coventry. The first month of the season saw the newly formed team struggle to find consistency with mixed results. At the beginning of November Mark Bernard released Dominic Hopkins and Steven Ellis and brought in Pavol Rieciciar and Greg Wood. November also saw the Wella Bison go through an injury crisis as the team was forced to play short-handed for a number of games. This had a considerable effect on the Herd’s league position as Basingstoke found themselves at the bottom with London moving away with every game. To add insult to injury the Wella Bison lost Jeff Corey for the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL (knee), which required surgery followed by a 6-month rehabilitation period. In December Lewis Buckman left Basingstoke and Brent Pope signed as a permanent player after initially joining on a one-month contract as injury cover.

The New Year brought more changes to the Wella Bison squad as Jozef Lukac and Pavol Rieciciar were released to make way for forwards Jason Norrie and Steve Gallace. 2005 also saw a change in the team’s fortunes as the Herd started to add to their points tally. Unfortunately the gap between the Wella Bison and London was too big to bridge and the Herd had to settle for 7th place and an early finish. Despite this disappointment the Herd still ended the season on a high as the final home game of the season saw the Bison beat Sheffield Steelers for the first time in the Elite League.

Coventry Blaze completed the treble in 2004-05 winning the Challenge Cup, the Play-offs and the Elite League title.

2005/2006

The 2005-06 season saw Mark Bernard continue to lead the Herd as Head Coach and General Manager. In November 2005 Mark added the role of goaltender to his job description after the departure of Steve Briere and Jayme Platt. Backing-up Mark ‘Bernie’ Bernard was young British netminder Dan Green. Upfront Shawn Maltby returned for a second season in Basingstoke, taking on the role of player/assistant coach. Other returnees were Captain Doug Sheppard and British forward Tony Redmond (icing in his 10th season at Basingstoke) and Shaun Thompson. New forwards in 2005-06 were: Edijs Brahmanis, Greg Chambers, Brad Cruikshank, Mark Galazzi, Jim Shepherd and John Wheaton. In defence Jerry Galway returned and was joined by Ryan O’Keefe, Andrew Sande, Danny Meyers, Shane Moore, Luke Reynolds and Mark Jackson.

The Herd started the season competing in the Elite League Challenge Cup in Group A alongside Cardiff, Coventry and London.. Two draws against the Devils and the Blaze saw the Herd finish bottom with two points. In October Danny Meyers departed followed in November by Shaun Thompson, both players moved down the road to Bracknell. Greg Owen signed-up in November while December saw Shane Moore and Mark Jackson leave the Hampshire club. In the league the team struggled to find its form, the standout results in 2005 being a 5-1 win in Nottingham, a four-point weekend in December and a 7-1 thrashing of the Sheffield Steelers on 27th December. A fantastic late Christmas present for Bison fans!

In January Brett Larson joined the Herd for the remainder of the season, flying in from Germany to play his first game on 7th January. A disappointing start to 2006 saw the Herd lose 11 league games in a row and be knocked-out of the British Ice Hockey Cup in the first round. However, never a team to give up, the Bison turned their season around after a 10-2 win over Edinburgh, collecting nine out of the available 12 points in the last 6 games of the season to finish seventh in the league ahead of bottom-placed Edinburgh.

The Playoffs saw Basingstoke in Group B with Newcastle, Sheffield and Nottingham. The Herd opened with back-to-back games with the Steelers, losing in Sheffield but winning in Hampshire. Next up was Newcastle. The home game saw the Vipers steal the two points with a cruel goal 89 seconds from the end of the game, effectively ending the Herd’s playoff chance. Basingstoke could not recover from this loss and ended up fourth in the group. Newcastle and Sheffield qualified from Group B for the final weekend and eventually met again in the final with Newcastle lifting the Cup. All honours were split in 2005-06 as Belfast Giants took the Elite League title, Cardiff won the Challenge Cup and Sheffield were the British Knock-out Cup champions.