THE BASINGSTOKE Bison have bolstered their blue line with the signing of offensive defenceman Miroslav Vantroba.

It comes in the same week that club captain Tony Redmond left the club to join one of their English Premier League rivals.

Highly-rated Slovak Vantroba is new to Britain and the 33-year-old, who stands 6ft 2in, will add some height to the Bison back division.

Having grown up in Spisska Nova Ves, he started his career with his hometown team, going on to play 642 games in the Slovakian top flight – one of the top divisions in the world.

During that time he scored 50 goals and collected 159 assists, and also won the Continental Cup in 2009 with HC Martin – ice hockey’s equivalent of the Champions League.

Last season, he returned to play for Spisska Nova Ves, who now play in the Slovakian second division, and collected 33 points from 30 games, hitting the net eight times.

A move to the EPL should see the Slovak quite capable of returning a 50-point season, if you look at similar players who have moved to Britain.

Vantroba is the third import signing for the Herd and joins Canadian’s Joe Rand and Doug Sheppard.

This leaves the Bison boss only needing to recruit one more foreign forward to complete his import quartet.

Sheppard is delighted with the latest addition to the Herd and said: “I was very impressed with the stats he has put up in the whole of his career. He has a lot of experience and having played 642 games in the top Slovakian League he has to be a good player.

“I was looking someone to quarterback our powerplay and he will be able to do this for sure.”