BASINGSTOKE Buffalo coach Ed Campbell ended his five-year reign with the team on a winning note on Saturday, as his side won 2-1 over the visiting Milton Keynes Thunder.

The victory secured second spot in the Southern play-off group for the Gowrings/Safeway-backed side, who were fourth this season in a very competitive division.

Ed said: "It is nice to end on a win, which is good for me as well as the guys. As yet, it has not sunk in that this was my last game, but no doubt it will in the next few days."

As coach of the Buffalo, the 56- year-old - who was born in Preston, but grew up in Hamilton Ontario in Canada - guided them to three league crowns, as his side suffered only 15 league defeats in his five seasons in charge, while recording 67 victories.

Last season, of course, was the high spot for the Buffalo as they became the first-ever southern team to win the National League play-off crown, beating the Altrincham Aces in one of the best games ever staged in Basingstoke.

The Buffalo trailed from the first leg 5-4 and were losing the second leg by a goal, so were two down on aggregate with 20 minutes to play.

However, Ed's troops were not about to give up the battle and stormed back, scoring twice in the final period of the game, and then winning the game in sudden death overtime to win the national crown 10-9 on aggregate.

Ed said: "That final game was incredible and I still think the turning point was us scoring a late goal in the first game to make it a one-goal game coming back here. Even going into the last period, the guys never gave up and, overall, it was just two great games of hockey."

This historic victory did not go unnoticed as Ed was voted Coach of the Year at The Gazette Sports awards earlier this year for his achievement in 2003.

Another big game which he remembers well was in season 2000/01, when the Buffalo faced a winner-takes-all clash against Telford.

Victory meant the league title and a place in the play-off semi-finals - while defeat would have seen the team finish third.

Once again it was a tense affair, with the Buffalo winning 5-4 and Ed's son, Drew Campbell, helping himself to a hat-trick.

Ed said: "That was a game where you won everything or ended up with nothing, and I remember Drew scoring three goals and us taking the title."

Another memory that sticks in the mind was in his first season in charge when the Buffalo missed out on the league title by a single goal, which they scored but had disallowed as the referee ruled it had been kicked in by Paul White.

Ed said: "It was disappointing to lose the title that way. The referee then apologised to me the next time I saw him, saying he should have given the goal!"

Ed had been a successful basketball and soccer coach back in Canada, before moving into ice hockey coaching, mainly because his two sons, Michael and Drew, started playing the game.

His eldest son, Michael, still lives in the land of his birth, while Drew is one of the top forwards with the Buffalo.

Having been made redundant from his job in Canada and unable to find work, he came to Basingstoke to stay with one of his uncles and found himself a job.

He was soon back into coaching in his spare time, helping the Bracknell under-19s to avoid relegation. He then had a short spell with the under-19 Bison, before taking over as coach of the Buffalo, for whom his son Drew was playing.

Ed said: "I have looked at the records and, in total, 84 players have played with the team in my five years, and 13 of those have been with me every year."

"It has been a great five years. The players have made my job easy and I must thank them as well as all the off-ice people who also do such a good job to make the Buffalo so successful."

Ed is going to be a hard act to follow, but he has laid the foundations for the Buffalo to stampede to ano-ther plain of success.