British defenceman Marcus Mitchell has been added to the Bison roster for the rest of the season, writes Graham Merry.

The 24-year-old came through the Guildford junior set-up and had signed for Oxford, but earned a place in the next league up with the Herd after impressive performances as a guest player.

Bison head coach Ashley Tait said: “Marcus has a great work rate and brings us something we don’t have. I am looking forward to working with him this season.”

Last weekend, the Basingstoke Bison opened their league campaign with two defeats.
The Herd suffered a 5-2 loss to the visiting Peterborough Phantoms on Saturday night and then 24 hours later, lost 6-3 in Slough against the Bees.
Against the visiting Phantoms the Bison got off to an awful start as after just 68 seconds they allowed man of the match Corey McEwen to circle the end zone and fire home.
Worst was to follow in the fifth minute, as Peterborough doubled their lead thanks to a simple tap in on the powerplay from Austin Michell-King.
The home side’s sluggish performance was punished a third time as at 6:52 Duncan Speirs scored on a breakaway.
At this point the Herd called a time out and got themselves back into the contest, but still trailed 3-0 after two periods.

The Bison finally opened their account at 46:46 as man of the match Gaels-Mukeba Lubwele’s lovely cross ice pass was hammered home by Zack Milton.
Within two minutes, the lead was cut to one as Edgars Landsbergs scored from close range, after Marcel Balaz’s shot had been blocked.
Balaz then so nearly tied the game as he robbed Speirs and skated in on Jordan Marr shorthanded, only for his shot to hit the crossbar.
Soon after, a too many men call on the Bison incensed the coaching staff, but their protests came to nothing.

Tait said: “We were on a change, there was no advantage taken by the players who entered the ice and the call changed the game.”
Peterborough made full use of the extra man as a long pass found Will Weldon all alone at the blue line and he walked in and scored to make 4-2.
The home side tried to get back in the game and with 82 seconds left they pulled their goalie, but Phantoms’ Lukas Sladkovsky hit the empty net.

Looking back on the game, Tait said: “We did not leave the dressing room until it was 3-0 and by that time it was too late. You cannot give anyone a three goal lead.”
The following night in Slough, the Bees scored the only goal of the opening session thanks to Brendan Walkom.
They extended the advantage to 4-1 by the second break, after Alan Lack scored twice and Dominik Gabaj once, while Aidan Doughty hit the target for the Herd.
The Bison’s Balaz netted the first goal of the final session, but man of the match Lack completed his hat-trick to make it 5-2.
Adrian Dusznik reduced the lead to two and in the final two minutes, the Herd pulled man of the match Jordan Lawday.
Unfortunately, the Bees hit the empty net thanks to Juha Lindgren.
This weekend, the Bison face a double header against early leaders the Swindon Wildcats, who include former Bison Ollie Stone, who moved there in the summer.
The Wiltshire side opened their league campaign with a 12-0 win over Hull and followed it up with a 3-0 success in Sheffield.
The first game is in Swindon on Friday, September 23 starting at 7.30pm with the return in Basingstoke the following evening with a 6.30pm face-off.

Looking at the coming weekend, Tait said: “Swindon are always a contender. It is a great rink to play in and I loved playing there and taking home the points. We have to embrace that challenge this week.”