It’s an all Yorkshire weekend for the GalxC Cooling Services Basingstoke Bison, as they will be facing Leeds Knights at the Silverdome on Saturday, face off is the usual 6.30pm.
While Sunday sees Ash & the boys make the lengthy trip to Ice Sheffield to take on the Sheffield Steeldogs, face off for this game is 4.30pm.
Leeds Knights, formerly named Leeds Chiefs, appointed the much respected Dave Whistle as Head Coach at the start of this season, Whistle pulled on a Basingstoke Beavers jersey 44 times during the 1993/94 season racking up 98 points (32+66) and played alongside Bison Bench Coach Tony Redmond.
He has built a strong roster which currently sits top of the Autumn Cup table, previous Coach Sam Zajac, another ex Basingstoke player (2009/10) is now the Knights’ Captain.
Back-stopped by the excellent Sam Gospel, their defence has an average age of just over 22 and contains plenty of experience at this level, with the likes of Lewis Baldwin, Jordan Griffin and Bobby Streetly blending in well with experienced Zajac.
The Knights’ forward line contains an abundance of quality, from the ex Hull Pirates sniper Matty Davies, who in 3 seasons at the Hull clocked up 237 points (62+175) in just 71 games, the prolific 22 yr old Adam Barnes who contributed 50 points (26+24) for the Leeds Chiefs in a difficult first season, to the exciting pair of 23 yr olds Cole Shudra and Brandon Whistle, who are on 2 way contracts with Sheffield Steelers.
The 2nd half of the Yorkshire weekend takes the Bison into the Dog Pound for a meeting with the other unbeaten Autumn Cup side, the Sheffield Steeldogs.
Coached by Greg Wood, another ex Basingstoke player, and assisted by Nathan Salem, the team is captained by defence-man Lewis Bell in his 11th season with the Steeldogs, the 4th as skipper.
Sheffield Steeldogs pride themselves on being a predominately Made in Yorkshire club, this is supported by 10 of their current roster having been born in the White Rose county.
While their defence has an average age of a touch over 31 yrs, it must surely be one the most experienced in the NIHL, Tim Smith and Ben Morgan can account for a total of 19 seasons between them in a Steeldogs jersey alone.
New to the defensive setup for 2021/22 is Tommy Ralph, who endeared himself to the Bison fan base by travelling from Hull each weekend for 2 seasons to play for the Herd, thanks Ralphy.
Other new faces this season are the former Hull Pirates quartet of Sam Towner, Lee Bonner, Matt Bissonnette and Jason Hewitt.
One to watch is 19 year old, 6’0” British winger Nathan Ripley, recently he signed a 2 way contract with the Coventry Blaze and made his debut for them in a pre season game against Manchester Storm. Ripley is a product of the Sheffield development programme, as part of this he spent 2 seasons at the Ontario Hockey Academy before returning to the UK, where during the 2019/20 season he made 27 appearances for the Steeldogs.
This weekend will be a real test for Ash and the team as they look to get back to winning ways after the OT loss to the Raiders IHC, no doubt following a good weeks training they’ll be ready to take the test.
