THE Basingstoke Bison hit the ice for the start of the season this coming weekend. They take on their former English Premier League rivals the Peterborough Phantoms in a pre-season double header of action.

The first game is at the Basingstoke Arena on Saturday night with a face-off of 6.30pm, with the return in Cambridgeshire on Sunday night at 5.30pm.

This will be the first time the Herd fans will get a chance to see their new look team which will see British forwards Ashley Jackson and Josh Smith make their Bison debuts, while the other summer signings Dean Skinns, Jaroslav Cesky, Elliott Dewey and Ryan Sutton are returnees to the Herd.

Peterborough also have a number of new faces in Brits Edwards Knaggs, Glen Billing, Leigh Jamieson, Nathan Salem.

There import combination is returning pair Darius Pliskauskas and Ales Padelek.

The Phantoms finished fourth in the EPL last season, one place below the Bison and along with the Swindon Wildcats, all three sides are expected to battle it out for the South One crown.

Therefore a double header with the Phantoms, should prove to be a good bench mark as to where the Bison are as they start their league campaign on September 9 at home to the Invicta Dynamos.

Bison head coach Doug Sheppard is looking forward to the weekend and said: "Peterborough on paper look to be one of the strongest teams in our league and they will prove to be the ideal test for us. I have a full roster to pick from and can't wait for the season to start."