Basingstoke Bison 1235678 224584996 2008-07-09T15:06:56Z 90.194.49.122 /* Club Roster 08/09 */ {{Refimprove|date=November 2007}} {| class="infobox bordered" cellpadding="4" style="font-size: 90%; width: 25em;" |- align="center" bgcolor="black" |colspan=2| <font color= Red>'''Basingstoke Bison''' |- align="center" |colspan=2| [[Image:LogoBasingstokeBison.jpg|center|200px]] |- align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee" || '''League''' || [[Elite Ice Hockey League]] |- align="center" || '''Founded''' || [[1988]] |- align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee" || '''History''' || <b>'''Basingstoke Beavers'''</b> <br>1988-95</br><b>'''Basingstoke Bison'''</b> <br>1995-Present</br> |- align="center" || '''Arena''' || [[Planet Ice Silverdome Arena|Planet Ice Silverdome]] |- align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee" || '''Capacity''' || 1,800 |- align="center" || '''City''' || [[Basingstoke]], [[Hampshire]], [[England]] |- align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee" || '''Team Colours''' || Black, White, Red & Green |- align="center" || '''Head coach''' || Ryan Aldridge |- align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee" || '''Owners''' || Tomas Enerston |- align="center" || '''Team Captain'''|| Brad Cruikshank |} The '''Basingstoke Bison''' are an [[England|English]] [[Ice Hockey]] club from [[Basingstoke]]. Formed in [[1988]] as the Basingstoke Beavers, the club soon became the butt of jokes when it was realised that [[Canada|Canadian]] players would not sign for a club whose name is Canadian slang for a part of the female anatomy.{{Fact|date=October 2007}} 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. ==Club Roster 08/09== Players as of [[July 9]], [[2008]] {| !colspan=7 |<big>Goaltenders |- bgcolor="#dddddd" !width=5%|Number !width=5%| !!width=15%|Player !width=16%|Catches !width=9%|Acquired !width=37%|Place of Birth |- |-bgcolor="#eeeeee" |align=center|'''--''' |align=center|{{flagicon|GBR}} |Joe White |align=center|L |align=center|2008 |[[Swindon]], [[England]] |} {| !colspan=7 |<big>Defencemen |- bgcolor="#dddddd" !width=5%|Number !width=5%| !!width=15%|Player !width=16%|Shoots !width=9%|Acquired !width=37%|Place of Birth |- |-bgcolor="#eeeeee" |align=center|'''22''' |align=center|{{flagicon|CAN}} |Trevor Read |align=center|L |align=center|2008 |[[Calgary]], [[Alberta]], [[Canada|CAN]] |- |-bgcolor="#eeeeee" |align=center|'''-''' |align=center|{{flagicon|GBR}} |Kurt Reynolds |align=center|L |align=center|2008 |[[Basingstoke]], [[England]] |- |-bgcolor="#eeeeee" |align=center|'''-''' |align=center|{{flagicon|USA}} |Curtiss Patrick |align=center|L |align=center|2008 |[[Hampton]], [[Virginia]], [[USA]] |- |} {| !colspan=7 |<big>Forwards |- bgcolor="#dddddd" !width=5%|Number !width=5%| !!width=15%|Player !width=16%|Shoots !width=9%|Acquired !width=37%|Place of Birth |- |-bgcolor="#eeeeee" |align=center|'''24''' |align=center|{{flagicon|CAN}} |[[Greg Chambers]] |align=center|R |align=center|2004 |[[Toronto, Ontario]], [[Canada]] |- |-bgcolor="#eeeeee" |align=center|'''-''' |align=center|{{flagicon|CAN}} |Brad Cruikshank |align=center|R |align=center|2005 |[[Kelowna]], [[British Columbia|B.C.]], [[Canada|CAN]] |- |-bgcolor="#eeeeee" |align=center|'''-''' |align=center|{{flagicon|UK}} |Shaun Thompson |align=center|R |align=center|2008 |[[Slough]], [[England]] |- |-bgcolor="#eeeeee" |align=center|'''-''' |align=center|{{flagicon|GBR}} |Mark Richardson |align=center|R |align=center|2008 |[[Swindon]], [[England]] |- |-bgcolor="#eeeeee" |align=center|'''-''' |align=center|{{flagicon|CAN}} |Austin Sutter |align=center|L |align=center|2008 |[[Red Deer, Alberta|Red Deer]], [[Alberta]], [[Canada|CAN]] |- |} ==Honoured members== Basingstoke have only retired the number of one player, that being [[Kevin Conway (ice hockey)|Kevin Conway's]] number '''10''' in 2005 following his initial retirement from ice hockey. In the 2005&ndash;06 season, Tony Redmond was honoured with a [[testimonial]] season.<ref>{{cite web| author = | title = About Us : The Club | url = http://www.bstokebison.co.uk/info.php#team | year = | accessdate = 2007-10-31 | publisher = Basingstoke Ice Hockey Club }}</ref> ==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''' *[[EIHL All-Star Team#2003-2004|EIHL First Team All Star - Curtis Cruickshank]] ==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 ==Footnotes== <div class="references-small"> <references/> </div> ==External links== * [http://www.bstokebison.co.uk/home.php Basingstoke Bison web site] {{British ice hockey}} [[Category:Basingstoke]] [[Category:Sport in Hampshire]] [[de:Basingstoke Bison]] [[fr:Bison de Basingstoke]] [[fi:Basingstoke Bison]]