Wall present and correct for Bison (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Moria snaps up highly-rated British netminder

8:00am Thursday 22nd December 2011 in Ice Hockey By John Boyman

STEVE Moria has given Basingstoke Bison fans an early Christmas present by signing top British netminder Stephen Wall.

The 30-year-old has established himself as one of the English Premier League’s top goalies during a long association with the Peterborough Phantoms, winning the treble with them in 2008-09.

Wall left Peterborough at the end of November and Bison player/coach Moria says the opportunity to sign him was simply too good to miss.

“In my opinion, he has been one of the top goalkeepers in the league over the past few years, and it’s great to be able to bring him to Basingstoke,” Moria said. “When he became available, it was something that I could not pass up.

“Eighth is not good enough for me or the team as a whole and we want to get up the table. We want to be in the top three or four and I felt we needed a change. Hope-fully, it will get us to where we want to be.”

Wall has played for the Bison before, spending three games on loan at the Basingstoke Arena in the Elite League at the start of the 2008-09 season. He also impressed in his last match against the Herd, letting in just four of 61 shots as Peterborough were beaten in overtime.

Wall said: “I am very excited about this opportunity and cannot wait to get started. I am looking forward to helping the Bison to be successful.”

The Newcastle-born netminder could come up against some familiar faces on his debut as the Bison host Peterborough on Boxing Day (face-off 5.30pm).

Moria said: “We are hoping to have everything in place so he can play against Peterborough, his old team. That would be an exciting way for him to start life here.”

With Wall arriving, Moria has taken the tough decision to release netminder Dean Skinns.

“Dean has been a successful netminder and played with me for a number of years, but something has been missing this year,” Moria said. “He is a model professional, which made the decision to release him even harder.”

Should Wall play on Boxing Day, he would not be the only player coming up against former teammates. Ondrej Lauko, who racked up 96 goals and 90 assists in two seasons with the Bison, will make his long-awaited return to the Basingstoke Arena in a Peterborough shirt.

“Ondrej Lauko has been in the goals and he will be looking to make an impression coming back here,” Moria said. “We know that if we give him time and space in the slot, he will put the puck away nine times out of 10. He is a sniper and has scored a lot of goals. He might not get a lot of chances but if he gets two, he will probably score twice.”

Basingstoke will go into their game against Peterborough having gone more than two weeks without a game. But they will be launched straight back into the thick of the action, as the Boxing Day match will be followed by a trip to Swindon Wildcats on Tuesday (face-off 7.45pm).

They are two big games for the Bison, who have lost five of their last six to slip to eighth in the table, while both Peterborough and Swindon have won three of their last four.

“They are two really big games but I am looking forward to it,” Moria said. “We have to psyche ourselves up to get our season started again.

“Both Peterborough and Swindon have hit form but things change. We know we can win, we just have to make sure we play intelligent hockey.”