Bison sign Rand for second year

The Basingstoke Bison have confirmed the re-signing of 26 year old Canadian forward Joe Rand for a second year in the English Premier League (EPL). He joins Player/Coach Doug Sheppard as the only other confirmed signing for the 2013-14 season.

Rand was somewhat of a revelation this past season, having made the jump to the EPL from the Wightlink Raiders of the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) South 1 division. The gritty forward scored 20 goals on his way to a 50 point haul for the season.

Joining the Herd from the Raiders Rand had “something to prove” with many a fan (both Bison and other) questioning his ability at a higher level than the NIHL. However he went on to prove his ability in abundance and claimed the Player’s Player and Supporters Player awards at the end of season party.

Rand began his junior hockey career playing in his home province of Ontario with the Hamilton Red Wings in 2002-03 and Vaughan Vipers in the Ontario Provisional Junior A League in 2003-04, as well as being called up to the OHL’s Toronto St. Michael’s Majors for two games. Rand played a season and a half in the OHL with Toronto before leaving to head back to University.

For the next 5 seasons Rand iced for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and was a consistent and well developed player; being named the team’s most improved player for the 06-07 season. In 2010-11 Rand made his first trip across the Atlantic and joined the Deggendorf Fire in the Oberliga Süd (south), the German 3^rd tier.

After his season in Germany, Rand was seletced by ex-Bison and Wightlink Player/Coach Jermey Cornish for the 2011-12 season; as the final import on their roster. Rand was one of the league’s most consistent and highest scorers during the season; having scored 47 goals and 46 assists for 93 points in 36 games. Rand finished the season as second highest scorer behind Invicta’s import Ryan Ellis.

For the past season with the Bison, Rand has been a well rounded third liner. However with their injury troubles during the season he has found himself being moved about depending on what lines Sheppard wanted to run with given the players at his disposal. That can sometimes lead to disruption in a players productivity and his ability to connect and gel with his linemates. But for Rand he went out every single night and gave it 100% and still put the points up on the board. I don’t think anyone was expecting him to set the world alite and put up the same numbers as he did with the Raiders the season before, but just under a point per game production is still not something to be sniffed at. Joe was the fourth highest scorer on the team last season behind Greg Chambers, Sheppard, Greg Owen and just finished a point ahead of Joe Miller and Joe Greener.

Point production wasn’t the reason why Rand was bought in by Sheppard; there are plenty of other imports throughout the league that can and have put up more points than he has during the season. But a player that can hit and is commited to taking the body, works hard and disrupts the flow of play for the opposition and someone that gives his all for the team and can create chances is exactly what he was first signed for.

The re-signing shows Sheppards content for the next season, despite losing Greg Owen (retirement) and Stevie Lyle (Swindon) he is showing that the team he puts together will still be hard hitting and gritty which is what the fans love. How Rand will fall into the grand scheme of things will depend on the other signings Sheppard makes. Is there better import forwards out there; well absolutely! Is Rand the right fit for the Bison and Sheppard; I’d say at this moment in time 100% yes.

Carlon makes the switch to the Lightning

The MK Lightning has confirmed the signing of British forward Tom Carlon for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons; as they continue to show their intent on challenging for EPL honours next season.

It is a great pick-up for Head Coach Nick Poole, as he adds the highly-rated forward to his British contingent. He said that the chance to sign Tom for the Lightning on a two year deal was an opportunity not to be missed. “I’ve spoken with Tom over the past few summers about him coming to play in MK, and I’m very pleased that we have finally captured his signature. He is a big strong player that I’ve admired since I saw him play junior hockey. Over the last few years he has gained confidence and become one of our league’s best British forwards.

“Tom is ambitious, he wants to win trophies and we know he’ll fit right in with our style of play. He’s a very good skater with an excellent shot and will immediately improve our offence, and he brings a lot of experience at international level and also from his time in the Elite league. His size and strength will add to our forecheck and he will be a real thorn in the side of opposition defences.”

Carlon makes the switch to MK for 2013-14.

Carlon makes the switch from the Lightning’s local rivals; the Peterborough Phantoms after three and a half seasons with the Cambridgeshire club.

The Telford born forward began his junior development with the Telford Wildfoxes aged 14 and began to progress through the clubs rankings, with his skill and ability earning him call ups to the Great Britain Under 18 and Under 20 selection between 2003 and 2005. He has captained the GB U18’s and has won several gold medals at international level.

Icing full-time for Telford, Tom also enjoyed guest appearances with the Coventry Blaze in the Elite League and was signed on a permanent basis in 2006; when the club took the League Championship.

In 2007 he made the switch back to the English Premier League and headed south to join the Bracknell Bees. 2008 marked a switch back to his home-town team; however with the Tigers unable to compete in 2009 due to financial reasons he made the switch to join the new league champions for his first spell with the Phantoms. After two seasons he made the switch to join the Jets, but financial difficulties saw him released mid-season and he made a return to the Phantoms.

Tom is very capable in the forward position and has good positioning and awareness on the ice. He is also able to score and will give the Lightning added fire power across their forward lines. However he is not a player that will score 50 goals a season and his abilities are utilised elsewhere. A player that is not afraid to put his body on the line or through a hit when needed; he is a great addition to Poole’s team.

He is coming off the back of his second best season in the EPL in terms of point production having scored 54pts from 21 goals and 33 assists. It will be interesting to see if Tom can once again be part of a championship winning side and what role he will play in MK depending on the further signings made by Poole.

Lyle switches Bison for Wildcats

Lyle joins the Wildcats for the 2013-14 season. Photo by David Steadman

The Swindon Wildcats have announced what could arguably be their best signing for the 2013-14 season with the capture of Basingstoke Bison talisman netminder, Stevie Lyle just weeks after the play-off finals. The 33 year-old Cardiff born netminder joined the Bison last season, as they looked to over-turn their fortunes in the English Premier League, following three consecutive seasons with the Cardiff Devils in the Elite League.

Lyle, pulled out all the stops in his first season in the EPL with some huge performances during the season and was one of the reasons the Bison finished in their highest league position since dropping to the EPL from the Elite League. Despite finishing behind Milton Keynes’ Stephen Wall in the stats charts, Lyle was arguably the best netminder in the league and was voted in the EPL All-star first team. Lyle iced in 52 league games, which would have been 54 had he not been selected by Tony Hand to represent Great Britain in their 2014 Winter Olympic qualification tournament in Latvia in February, and faced 1,678 shots. He put up impressive numbers for the season; included a 2.43 goals against average and a 92.43 save percentage.

A huge, huge blow for the Bison and Doug Sheppard with very big skates to fill, and a fantastic pick up and first signing for Aldridge in his 6th season in charge of the Wildcats. He said in the announcement of his return for next season that he wanted to move the club forwards and upwards and what better way to start. Although the pairing of Skinns and Murdy is not a bad one, last season the Wildcats recorded 214 goals against whilst the Bison had the league’s lowest of 138; with only the Lightning and league champions Guildford coming close.

A player like Lyle gives you confidence at the back, however he cannot be relied upon totally to win you games. He can definitely give you an edge, which showed with the Bison this season, however you also need a strong defence and forward set-up so that you also score goals whilst not conceding them. The Wildcats had the best offensive line in the league last season with Jonas Hoog and Aaron Nell and these will be the next signatures Aldridge will be desperate to capture to ensure that once again the Wildcats have a strong squad, not only on paper, but also on the ice as well.

For Sheppard back in Basingstoke, he’ll surely be scratching his head as another key Brit he would have surely been hoping to keep has slipped through his grasp, less than two weeks into the summer recruitment period. He showed a year ago that he can recruit well on, and sign top players, whilst being on a medium sized “budget” and he will already have a feeling as to who could fill the void that has now been left by Lyle’s departure.

We’ve still got weeks and months ahead of us before the season re-starts in September and it is already getting interesting and exciting as to who will sign where.

The full Swindon Wildcats press release is available here.

 

Kapicka Released by Wildcats

The Swindon Wildcats have announced that import forward Michal Kapicka has been released by the club with immediate effect.

The Czech native joined the Wildcats for the start of the 2012-13 season and has appeared in 19 contests; in which he has registered 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points.

Kapicka started his career in 1999-00 in the Czech Under 18 league icing for the Bili Tygri Liberec U18 as well as HC Litvinov U18. In 2000-01 Kapicka continued with the Bili Tygri Liberec U18 side as well as joining the U20 team in 17 games. This was followed by four consecutive seasons with the U20 side as well as icing for the HC Jablonec in Czech 3 in 2004-05 and 2005-06. Kapicka joined HC Jablonec in the Czech 3 division full-time in 2006-07 and iced in 11 games; registering 13 points. During that season he also spent time in the Slovakian 2 league with HK Nove Zamky for just one game.

During the 2007-08 season Kapicka was well traveled having split his time amongst 4 teams; with HC Jablonec in the Czech 3, HK Nitra in Slovakian division, Ferencváros TC in Hungary and HK Nove Zamky in the Slovakian 2 division. The following three seasons saw Kapicka spend his time in his native Czech, as well as Germany. In 2011-12 Kapicka spent the season with Mullhouse in the France 2 division. He registered over a point a game, finishing the season with 36pts from 26 starts.

The announcement may come as a shock to some fans and not to others. In recent weeks the Wildcats looked to strengthen their roster with the signing of import defenceman Tomas Fojtik from the Telford Tigers. Fojtik started the season with the Basingstoke Bison however was released in favour of Tigers forward Jaroslav Cesky. In what seemed a straight swap between the two clubs was far from being so simple. Fojtik spent just a sole weekend in Telford before heading back south to join Ryan Aldridge’s men.

At the time of his signing there was no news regarding the imports in Swindon with the option of 5 players. However following their 5-2 defeat to the Milton Keynes Lightning Aldridge took the decision to release Kapicka as he looks to bring balance to the team; especially following the return to fitness of Matias Perkkio.

This leaves Jonas Hoog, Jan Melichar, Perkkio and Fojtik as the remaining import players on the Wildcats roster. Kapicka will now most likely look for other options to continue playing this season, with a number of EPL clubs looking to make changes to the teams and also short of their import quota; most notably Sheffield and Telford. Following the departure of Cesky to Bison and Fojtik to Swindon, Tom Watkins has not yet found a suitable replacement for the Tigers; however it would be no surprise if Kapicka is seriously being looked at. Kapicka is a very capable forward at this level and his 22 points from 19 games shows his ability to score and collect points. He is good on the puck and has the ability going forward.

We’ll keep you updated as soon as any news of Kapicka’s whereabouts is released.

James Hutchinson joins the Herd

The Basingstoke Bison made the announcement yesterday that they had secured the services of the recently gassed British defenceman James Hutchinson for the remainder of the season.

Hutchinson started the season with the Peterborough Phantoms; registering 11 points from 17 starts, however the club were forced to release him due to increasing financial issues which resulted in an emergency fans forum last week to discuss the future of the club.

Hutchinson first iced for the Phantoms during the 2000-01 season; taking part in 4 games and registering 2 points at just 16 years old.

His next appointment was for the Isle of Wight Raiders in 2002-03 before he joined the Bison in 03-04 for their first season in the newly formed Elite League where he scored 2 points from 44 starts whilst also representing the Great Britain Under 20’s team.

In 2004-05 he moved onto the Dundee Stars in the now defunct British National League. The 2005-06 season saw Hutchinson’s first foray into foreign waters after a move to the Morzine-Avoriaz in the French league. The following season he was back in the UK and split the season between the Manchester Phoenix in the EIHL and with the Phantoms in the EPIHL. He spent two further seasons with the Phantoms, securing the treble in 2008-09, before another move back to the EIHL; this time with the Hull Stingrays, for the 2009-10 season. The following season he returned back to the Phantoms.

The 2011-12 season saw Hutchinson back in the EIHL, however not with the initial team he signed for, after being sacked by the Braehead Clan just weeks after agreeing to join them. This saw the Belfast Giants come calling for an experienced British defenceman and is was a dream move which saw him add the Elite crown to his already impressive tally of championships won.

Hutchinson has a wealth of experience both at the EPIHL level and in the EIHL and is an asset for any team. He is a strong defenceman that can hold his ground and break down plays. Although not high scoring at Elite level, he can bring a bag full of points in the EPL and has relatively low PIM’s which is great as he is out on the ice doing his job rather than sitting in the box.

Many questioned the actions and thinking of Coach Sheppard when he announced that the Bison were to go with a full quota of import forwards rather than the traditional 3/1 split which is often seen by EPL clubs. Of course the release of the towering Fojtik in favour of Jaroslav Cesky had many fans up in arms and worrying about the stability at the back; however the Bison have a strong contingent of British defenceman and arguably the best netminder in the league.

However with the likes of Kurt Reynolds, Tony Redmond and now Hutchinson; the Bison have some of the best British defenceman in the EPL currently. He should fit in well with the style of play Sheppard has induced on the Bison and should rack up plenty of points from the blue-line. A four point lead at the top of the standings is surely only going to get larger if the Bison continue as they have been.

Cesky joins Bison and Fojtik heads north to Tigers

A number of weeks ago a rumour was doing the rounds that the Bison were set to sign Jarolsav Cesky from the Telford Tigers. The questions at the time were who would make way from their import list to accommodate Cesky on the roster; with the presumption that they would not be capable of funding a 5^th import. Well the most likely candidate at the time was Joe Rand. Rand stepped up to the Bison and EPL from the Wightlink Raiders and ENL 1. Questions were asked at the time of his announcement of whether he would fit in and be of good enough quality for the EPL. Well he has shown himself capable having put up 10 points from 12 games; with 4 goals and 6 assists.

Many could not fathom why the Bison would need to sign a player such as Cesky with the amount of firepower and top draw forwards that had joined Coach Sheppard over the summer. With the likes of top Brits Greg Owen, Joe Miller and Joe Greener joining ex-Bison  Greg Chambers, Rand and Sheppard himself on the forward lines the Bison should not be short of scoring ability. However it has not worked out that way after 13 games played.

They have currently only scored 37 goals compared to the 22 conceded (+15 difference), but in stark contrasts to Guildford’s 65 GF, Bracknell’s 50 GF and Manchester’s 47 GF.  The lowest goals against figure is in no small part due to having arguably the best British netminder in the EPL; in the form of Stevie Lyle. So what isn’t going right for the Bison and why aren’t they getting the goals. The only people that know this will be Coach Sheppard and the players themselves; however Sheppard has obviously felt changes are needed to light up the score boards for the Bison.

The shock twist in this saga came earlier this week when Coach Sheppard announced that his import defenceman, the 6ft 5” Czech giant Tomas Fojtik, had been released by the club.

The following day, and much to everyone’s surprise, Cesky had been announced as leaving the Tigers to become a Bison player for the remainder of the 2012-13 season. What was even more shocking was Tiger’s player-coach Tom Watkins announcing that Fojtik would make his way north to join the Shropshire side. So seemingly a straight swap of players between the two clubs. Well not quite!

Cesky joins a team currently in 2^nd place in the league standings from one that is currently in last place; however coming off their first 4 point weekend of the season. Cesky himself the hero of the hour, with his hat-trick giving the Tigers victory over the MK Lightning on Sunday.

Fojtik leaves a team that has seemingly been the best defensively this season. As mentioned above that has a lot to do with the Bison having the best netminder in the league. Lyle has faced 363 shots (second highest of all netminders) however only conceded 19 goals. This gives a goals against average as 1.7 goals a game and a save percentage of 94.77 (correct as of 24.10.12).

So you could say that what the Bison will miss from Fojtik in defence will be levelled out by what Cesky will bring on offense. Well that isn’t always the case. It will take Cesky time to settle into the Bison’s system of play and to find that ability to click with his line-mates; therefore the goals may not come flowing immediately.

So who is to replace Fojtik? It would appear that “Mr Basingstoke” Tony Redmond will switch from offense to defence. Redmond is a two-way player and can play either position confidently and to a high standard; just the type of player you need on your team for situations like this. Chambers may also find time on the defence. He proved in 2011-12 whilst at Guildford that he can play in defensive positions to a high standard; however it would not make sense to take your highest point scorer away from where he would be best utilised.

So it is more likely that it’ll just be Redmond dropping back to join an all British defence; the only team in the EPL to do so.

So what will the Tigers now do without their out and out scorer? It surprised many when Cesky was announced as signing for Telford. Having seemingly left Swindon for Europe he made a u-turn decision to remain in Britain and the EPL. Cesky gave the Tigers that out and out scoring ability that they had lacked in recent seasons and he proved with his hat-trick against the Lightning that he was doing his job perfectly. Although Fojtik will boost the defence at Telford it is now hard to see where the goals at the other end of the ice will come from.

However an interesting observation could come from ex-Tiger Josh Bruce asking to be released from his contract with the Slough Jets.

Bruce left Telford during the off season to join the Jets for 2012-13. In the Jets’ press release it made mention to Bruce remaining (living) up north and travelling south at weekends; which he has found hard and therefore has asked for the release.

So could Bruce be set to re-join the Tigers and give them the required depth on the forward lines they will now lack? Bruce isn’t a high scorer by any means and only managed 41 points from 15 goals and 26 assists last season. This year he currently has 6 points from 11 games; so isn’t going to directly replace Cesky if he does re-join the Tigers but will put points on the board for them none the less.

It is an interesting move by the Bison to sacrifice a little in defence to have a bit more up front on offense. Only time will tell whether it was a correct move by Sheppard to make.