NEW Basingstoke Bison general manager and head coach Mark Bernard has wasted no time snapping up his first signing for the coming season - highly-rated Canadian netminder Ron Vogel.

The 25-year-old native of London, Ontario, was Bernard's starting netminder last season for the Rockford IceHogs and, before that, spent three years in the East Coast Hockey League with the New Orleans Brass and Pee Dee Pride.

The new Wella-backed side's boss, a former netminder himself, is really pleased with his first signing.

He said: "With the loss of Curtis (Cruickshank) to Nottingham, it was very important that we filled the void as quickly as possible."

He added: "Ron is an excellent goalie who can carry a heavy workload. He has a proven track record over the past four seasons and he is always among the elite in his position.

"All successful teams are built from the net out, and we took a giant step with this acquisition. Several Elite League teams were after Ron's services and I am thrilled he has put pen to paper."

Like Cruickshank, who he replaces, Vogel is no stranger to accolades - picking up the Most Valuable Player and the Fans' Favourite awards last season at Rockford.

Previous honours have also included the Rookie of the Year award for New Orleans in 2000/01. This was not surprising as he had an amazing 93.3 per cent save rate from 1,557 minutes in goal that year.

The following season, Vogel played for the same American outfit and was their Most Valuable Player for that season.

Vogel brings to England a 91 per cent save rate from his North American professional career.

Talking exclusively to The Gazette, Vogel said: "I am very excited about coming to Britain for the first time. This is a great opportunity for me to play good hockey outside of North America and I can't wait to come over later in the summer."

Vogel admitted that having Bernard as Bison head coach had helped him decide to come to Basingstoke.

He said: "Mark is a great coach and I am really pleased to be joining him once more. I am sure he will put together a good team which I'll be proud to be part of."

So what can the Bison fans expect from their new netminder?

Vogel said: "I am a feisty, hard-working goalie who likes to win.

"I am very agile and sometimes a little acrobatic.

"I like to talk to fans of all ages and am looking forward to going out in to the Basingstoke community."

This is the Bison's first signing for the coming campaign, but more players are expected to be announced at the end of the week, as the Herd starts to take shape for the coming season.