SIX more players from the Basingstoke Bison’s championship winning side have left the side.

It has been confirmed that Dean Skinns, Vanya Antonov, Tomas Karpov, Josh Smith, Ryan Sutton and Stuart Mogg have all left the Herd.

This comes following the news last week that club captain Aaron Connolly and defenceman Daniel Scoot would be leaving the Bison.

It is now eight of last year’s treble winning team who have exited the team along with head coach Doug Sheppard.

Skinns was one of the heroes of the Bison’s National Final Four competition win, saving a penalty shot from one of the best forwards in the Northern league.

This was the shotstopper’s fourth spell with the Herd, making 32 appearances last year.

Centre Karpov joined the Bison in 2013 from the Telford Tigers and in that time he rackied up an impressive 301 points, including 67 last year – the top scorer in the National Hockey League South.

The youngest player of the six to be confirmed as leaving the club, 20-year-old Joshua Smith, made 28 appearances for the Herd last season and also was selected as part of the England Under 20 team which won bronze at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

As previously reported in The Gazette, former head coach Doug Sheppard, who led the Bison to three trophies last year, has left for pastures new further up the M3 to link up with the Bracknell Bees.

In other Bison news, the club has agreed with league officials that the league and playoff format for the upcoming season will remain the same.

The decision was made at meetings over the weekend in Sheffield and Newbury.

League manager Richard Carpenter said: “It was a long weekend but once again very much worthwhile to see all NIHL clubs and discuss issues face to face.

“The league has come a long way in the last 12 months and we look forward to the new campaign starting in September.”