The GalxC Cooling Services Basingstoke Bison are in Planet Ice National League action this weekend when they face back-to-back games against the Leeds Knights.
We welcome the Knights to the Silverdome Arena on Saturday evening, face off will be at the usual time of 6.30pm.
The return fixture at the Elland Road rink, aka the Castle, has a later than normal face off time of 6.30pm on Sunday, due to the Leeds Utd v Arsenal game which kicks off at 2.00pm.
Coached by Ryan Aldridge and Captained by Kieran Brown, Leeds Knights have made an excellent start to the 2022/23 league season and are unbeaten after 7 games.
During the summer of 2022, with an eye on the future, Leeds signed a number of highly promising young players from NIHL 1 North teams primarily on 2-way contracts.
However the major signing news came in the form of the Knights first ever import, Zachary Brooks, a 21 year old 6’ 2” Canadian power forward, who was closely followed by a 2nd Canadian in Grant Cooper, a 26 year old forward signed from ECHL side the Reading Royals (no, not those Reading Royals).
Adding these 2 to a team already containing the likes of Cole Shudra, Adam Barnes and last season’s National League points machine, Kieran Brown, it’s not difficult to see why they occupy top spot in the league.
However, my One to Watch is the experienced Matt Haywood (Forward) Shirt No:11
31 year old, Yorkshire-born Haywood brings a wealth of Elite League craft with him, following 13 seasons and over 600 appearances in the EIHL, mostly with Glasgow Clan, formerly the Braehead Clan.
His signing no doubt provides coach Aldridge with the perfect player to set an example to the rest of the roster.
As for the Bison, last Saturday’s performance in MK was in stark contrast to the previous 2 weekends of high energy hockey.
Head Coach Ashley Tait will have spent this week working on getting the team back to that level of performance.
Of course fans of the Stampede (aka the Wall of Sound) know what they need to do in supporting the team on the ice.
Loud, Louder, Loudest.
Tickets are available for Saturdays game against the Knights (Face Off 6.30pm) by clicking the following link: https://iceaccount.co.uk/basingstoke-bison?Reference=Bison-Website
