SATURDAY night at the Basingstoke Arena will be an evening of celebration after the immediate future of the Basingstoke Bison was secured this week.

Planet Ice, which runs the Bison’s home venue, has stepped in and will run the team at least until the end of the season.

The announcement ended weeks of uncertainty for the Herd, who had looked set to fold after former owner Tomas Enerston failed to pay the players last week.

The Bison stars battled on and played both their games last weekend, while rival fans touted Basingstoke’s demise on various websites as the club entered its bleakest hour.

However, hope was on the horizon and, at a meeting on Monday morning, Planet Ice agreed to take over running the Bison franchise, as exclusively revealed on basingstokegazette.co.uk Monday afternoon.

It now means Basingstoke’s best-supported sports club will complete their Elite League campaign in their 20th anniversary season, when just a fortnight ago this looked highly unlikely.

Planet Ice have also confirmed that the coaching team of player/coach Eric Braff and his assistants Greg Chambers and Jeremy Cornish, which has guided the Bison stampede up the Elite League standings in recent weeks, will remain in place.

Planet Ice managing director Mike Petrouis told The Gazette: “I am pleased the way things have worked out and I hope now that we can work closely with the fans to make a real success of things in Basingstoke.

“We are going to honour all the existing season tickets for the rest of the season.”

He added: “I feel I have put together a good team to run the Bison as our director of group operations, John Neville, has had experience of running teams in the past. He is joined by Harry Robinson, the club’s director of hockey.

“I am sure they will do a good job, but there is a lot of work to be done and it is not going to happen overnight. I hope everyone will support them.”

Robinson, a long-standing fan of ice hockey in Basingstoke, said: “I am looking forward to the challenges ahead. Ice hockey is an important part of the community of this town. Our first objective is getting stability for this team, both commercially and financially.”

The local borough councillor and well-respected businessman added: “I will be looking for new sponsorships and partnerships to support the objectives of this club.”

With the change in management, two players have decided to leave the Herd. British forward Mark Richardson asked to be released from his contract and looks set to join the Nottingham Panthers, while injured import defenceman Jason Goulet has made the decision to return home to Canada.

The club are already actively looking for replacements for the duo, as well as former captain Brad Cruikshank.

Bison player/coach Eric Braff said: “It is great that Planet Ice has taken over and brought security to this team. We, as players, can now just focus on what happens on the ice.

“We still have a couple of weeks in rough waters, but by the middle of November we will have a full team. I understand why players decide to go and we wish them well.”

The first game under the new Planet Ice banner proved to be a great one as the Herd produced their best result of the season on Tuesday night in Nottingham.

They turned the Elite League form book upside down with a 6-4 victory, to deny the Panthers the chance to go top of the table. A delighted Braff said: “This was a great win. The guys turned in an awesome performance and we never let up for the whole 60 minutes.

“Our fans made sure they were heard and we thank them for their support.” Next up for the Herd is a visit from the Newcastle Vipers on Saturday (6.30pm), with the Bison keen to make it three wins on the trot on home ice and erase last Sunday’s 8-0 reverse on Tyneside.

Braff said: “For sure, we are going out to avenge that defeat. We have that out of our systems now after winning at Nottingham.

“Everyone is looking forward to the game and we want to keep winning in our own building. With the help of our fans we want to make it a great night.”