By Simon Church
Your GalxC Cooling Services Basingstoke Bison are in National League action this weekend, with games against Sheffield Steeldogs and Telford Tigers scheduled, as they look to put last weekend’s unfortunate situation behind them.
Starting on Saturday we have a home game against the Steeldogs, who make their first visit of the season to the Silverdome, the game faces off as normal at 6.30pm.
Our opponents currently occupy 4th place in the league standings, with 21 points from 15 games, courtesy of 9 regulation wins plus 3 OT losses.
With Jason Hewitt still out due to the injury he sustained in the game against the Bison last month, leading the National League scoring for the Steeldogs is Canadian forward Matt Bissonnette with 18 points (7+11) from 14 appearances, followed by James Spurr on 13 points (4+9) from 12 appearances.
Guarding the pipes are the pairing of highly experienced Dimitri Zimozdra, who is backed up by 17 year old Charlie Henry. Zimozdra has made 14 appearances and has a 83.5 save percentage while young Henry has iced in 2 games and has a save percentage of 87.5.
Sunday’s game will see the Bison make the long trip to Shropshire to take on the Telford Tigers, face off at the Telford Ice Rink is 6.00pm.
Telford sit in 5th place with 18 points from 17 games, those points gained from 9 regulation wins.
Import forward Vladimír Luka heads the Tigers scoring on 22 points (11+11) having made 14 appearances, next is the ever popular Scott McKenzie with 17 points (2+15) from 14 games.
Tigers net minder is Brad Day, from his 14 appearances he has an impressive 90.7 save percentage.
Telford’s Head Coach Tom Watkins is currently trying to manage an injury crisis, particularly in defence, with experienced Jonathon Weaver yet to make an appearance this season, plus Dekan Fielder and Nick Oliver only making 8 appearances between them so far.
Note: Individual stats used are taken from each teams Elite Prospects page & may not be entirely current.
As for the Bison, everyone connected with the club will be hoping last weeks sickness bug has well and truly passed through, we hope all those affected by the illness have recovered sufficiently to resume normal duties in time for this weekend.
To quote the Wall of Sound, the best medicine for the players in particular, is to hear you voicing your support in the usual way, starting at 6.30 on Saturday night
Loud, Louder, Loudest.
Tickets for Saturday nights Planet Ice National League versus the Steeldogs (Face off 6.30pm) are available to purchase at the following link: https://iceaccount.co.uk/basingstoke-bison?Reference=Bison-Website
