THE BASINGSTOKE Bison have signed their first new import for the forthcoming EPL campaign with the capture of Slovakian defenceman Marcel Petran.

The 24-year-old, who is 6ft 2ins tall and weighs 216 lbs, has spent all but one season of his career in his homeland, playing at the highest level in one of the top European leagues.

Last year he played for HK32 Liptovsky Mikulas and the season before averaged over a point a game in the MOL Liga (The Hungarian and Romanian League) playing for Budapest-based Ujpesti TE.

A delighted Basingstoke Bison player/coach Steve Moria said: “Everyone speaks very highly of Marcel. He is a young player, his best years are still to come and he has already played at a very high level. He is a very good skater and shoots the puck hard.”

He added: “I think the MOL league is similar to the EPL and the figures he put up there show he can also play offensively.”

Petran will replace Mindy Kieras, who has now been confirmed as a signing for Slough. Also this week, Bison British defencemen Karl Graham has joined Bracknell, while Ricky Skene is heading to Peterborough.

Despite the departures, Moria is close to completing his defensive core for next season with Petran, Sam Oakford and Kurt Reynolds already signed.

The Bison player/coach explained: “I think defensively we are looking solid as Tony Redmond will be shifted back and I have another strong British defenceman on the verge of signing for us.”