THE Basingstoke Bison have retained the services of another member of its successful defensive team to keep the core of the Herd together.

Miroslav Vantroba re-signs for the Herd for the fourth successive year having been a key player in the team’s successful in the English Premier League defence last season.

The 37-year-old Slovak also collected 25 points for the Bison hitting the net three times with his laser-like slap shot.

Having started his senior career with his home town team of HC Spisska Nova Ves, Vantroba has been a regular for the Herd since the 2013 / 14 season and has been a leader in the team’s defence, also making a big impact during power plays.

Having played more than 150 games in the EPL, as well as well over 600 top flight games in his native Slovakia, Vantroba adds a level of unmeasured experience to the Herd, something that head coach Doug Sheppard is pleased to see return to the mix.

“He is a really strong player for us and it is great to have Miroslav returning for a fourth year,” said Sheppard.

“We had a really strong defensive team last year so we wanted to retain it as much as we could, and having Miroslav come back into the team is a massive part of that.

“He is really strong in the power plays for us and I’m sure he will continue racking up the points for us next year.”

Vantroba joins Aaron Connolly, Grant Rounding, Daniel Lackey, Joe Baird, Tomas Hiadlovsky and Tomas Karpov as just some of the players Sheppard has retained from his title winning side.

“It was important for us to keep as many of the players from last year’s side as we could,” said Sheppard.

“We’ve added a few new faces, which we did last season, but we don’t want to mix things up to much.

“The aim is to retain the EPL title once more – it is all well and good winning it, but defending it is the real challenge.”