The Basingstoke Bison would like to announce that their player/coach for their first season in the English Premier League will be Steve Moria.

The Canadian is no stranger to Basingstoke having been player/coach for two seasons between 2002 and 2004 and in his final year was the club's top goal scorer.

He is now ready to guide the team on their first ever assault on the English Premier League crown and has plenty of experience at this level of ice hockey in Britain, having been for the past two years been the EPL Player of the Year.

Moria returns to Basingstoke in a multi-year deal as Director of Hockey Operations with his prime role being player/coach of the Bison.

Last season the highly respected player/coach guided the Slough Jets to fourth spot in the EPL and to the play-off finals, but missed out on repeating his play-off victory of the previous year.

The new Bison boss is now ready for the challenge to build a brand new team in Basingstoke, that will be fighting for silverware when the season starts in September.

Moria said: "I am even more exciting this time around than when I first came to Basingstoke. This is fresh start and I know the last two years have been tough for the fans, but we want to be challenging for trophies

He added:" I believe I can put a team together that is capable of doing that and there has be a lot interest from players wanting to come to Basingstoke to play.

"The EPL is a good brand of hockey and I am sure the Bison fans will enjoy the intense local derbies with Bracknell, Guildford and Slough."

Planet Ice's Director of Group Operations John Neville is delighted to have brought Moria on board.

He said: "Steve (Moria) was the man I wanted for the job having worked with him in Blackburn, He is a true professional and will bring the stability that this club needs to move forward and prosper."

More Bison signing news for the coming season is expected by the weekend, so watch the Gazette and Bison websites for more news.