THE Basingstoke Bison start their quest for a second piece of silverware this season, as they take on the Manchester Phoenix in the play-off quarter-finals.

The first game is on Saturday with a 3.30pm start time and the return is on home ice on Sunday at the slightly later face-off time of 6pm.

The winners of this two legged affair will then qualify for the finals weekend on April 2 and 3 at Coventry, where the winners will face either Telford or Milton Keynes in the first semi-final at the Skydome.

The Herd missed out on a trip to Coventry last season, when they lost to Manchester, so they are are out for revenge this season against a side who they beat six times during the league campaign.

However, this counts for nothing when the puck drops on Saturday night and the Bison will be minus injured captain Aaron Connolly.

Basingstoke head coach Doug Shepaprd is fully aware of this and said: "It is a new season and Manchester are a dangerous team and we have to stop their offensive threats. The first game is all about making sure wew are still in the tie come the home game on Sunday."

This will not be the last game on home ice for the Bison as a lot of the players will be in action again on Saturday April 30 (6.30pm) in a special charity game against the Buffalo which is raising money for chemo ward, Breast Care and chemogiftbags.

Players past and present will be icing in what will be a great evening and tickets will be available from organiser Sandra Leary in the bar during Sunday night's Bison game. For more details see the Bison & Buffalo Hockey Hugs for Cancer Facebook page.