Dundee Stars

Dundee Stars
Dundee Stars
City	Dundee, Scotland
League	Elite Ice Hockey League
Founded	2001
Home arena	Dundee Ice Arena
Colours	Navy Blue, Red, White
General manager	Omar Pacha
Head coach	Omar Pacha
Captain	Drydn Dow
Affiliates	Dundee Comets
Website	[1]
Franchise history
2001–2008	Dundee 'Texol' Stars
2008–2017	Dundee 'CCS' Stars
2018 – present	'Kitmart' Dundee Stars
Championships
British National League Champions	2001–02
British National League Playoff Champions	2001–02, 2004–05
Gardiner Conference Champions	2013–14

The Dundee Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in the Scottish city of Dundee. They were formed in 2001 and play their home games at the Dundee Ice Arena, situated off the city's main Kingsway dual carriageway.

The team currently play in the top professional UK-wide Elite Ice Hockey League and have previously played in others including the British National League, Scottish National League and The Northern League. In joining the Elite League, they are one of three Scottish teams playing in the competition, alongside Glasgow Clan and Fife Flyers.

History[]

BNL years[]

Founded in 2001, the Dundee Stars won the Findus British National League (FBNL) and the Playoffs in their first season (2001–02) and then ranked 2nd in the FBNL 9n (2002–03), topped their playoff group and reached the semi-finals of the challenge cup the following season. Stars' third season was a disappointment compared to the previous two, with a low league position and a place in the final of the Capital Cup.^{[citation needed]}

Season 2004–05 started off disappointing for all three Scottish teams in the BNL. The National Cup, the Keyline Cup and the Challenge Cup were no better. However, the Stars turned their season around after making a few changes to the roster and won the Playoffs and also fared well in the Caledonia Cup.^{[citation needed]}

Post BNL years: SNL[]

In 2005 Edinburgh Capitals and Newcastle Vipers decided to resign from the BNL in order to join the premier Elite League. As this would leave the BNL with only five teams; and thus with little option but to fold, the Capitals and Vipers temporarily withdrew their applications so as to allow the remaining BNL teams to apply for EIHL status. However, terms could not be agreed between the EIHL and the remaining five BNL teams; leading the Capitals and Vipers to resubmit their original applications and join the EIHL; which ultimately resulted in the closure of the BNL. This led the Stars, along with fellow former BNL team Fife Flyers, to move to the Scottish National League. The Stars refusal of the EIHL's terms was due to their local rival, Fife Flyers, being unable to join the EIHL due to their arena not meeting the EIHL's standards. It was decided that Stars' would not join the EIHL at that time unless the Flyers were allowed to join with them. In joining the SNL the Stars had to release all of their imported players in order to meet SNL rules.

During the first season, Fife won the SNL with Stars three points behind in 2nd. Flyers also won the Autumn Cup, the Northern League and the SNL Playoffs. Season 2006–07 introduced the NHL style Zero Tolerance rules and the one import rule with the intent of making the SNL a more skillful league. The Stars have relied heavily on their junior development with many under-19s and some under-16s "playing up" as well as managing to secure the services of two of the "old" favourites, Jeff Marshall (Canada) and Patric Lochi (Italy).

EIHL years[]

In late April 2010, the Dundee Stars confirmed that they had been accepted into the EIHL,^[2] as the league's 2nd expansion team for the 2010–11 season.

Elite Ice Hockey League record[]

Season	League		Conference		Playoff	Challenge Cup
2010–11	EIHL	8th			QF	Group
2011–12	EIHL	8th			QF	Group
2012–13	EIHL	9th	Gardiner	3rd		QF
2013–14	EIHL	3rd	Gardiner	1st	QF	QF
2014–15	EIHL	10th	Gardiner	5th		QF
2015–16	EIHL	7th	Gardiner	3rd	QF	QF
2016–17	EIHL	7th	Gardiner	2nd	SF	QF
2017–18	EIHL	10th	Gardiner	3rd		QF
2018–19	EIHL	10th	Gardiner	2nd		QF
2019–20^†	EIHL	9th				QF
2020–21^††	EIHL	Cancelled	Cancelled			Cancelled

^† Note: The 2019–20 Elite League season was cancelled completely in March 2020, owing to the coronavirus pandemic. The season finished without a league or play-off winner and Dundee's stat line above reflects the Stars' position at the time of the cancellation.^[3]

^†† Note: The 2020–21 Elite League season - originally scheduled for a revised start date of 5 December - was suspended on 15 September 2020, because of ongoing coronavirus pandemic restrictions. The EIHL board determined that the season was non-viable without supporters being permitted to attend matches and unanimously agreed to a suspension.^[4] The season was cancelled completely in February 2021.^[5]

Head coach history[]

Name	Nationality	Tenure
Tony Hand		2001–03
Roger Hunt		2003–09
Iain Robertson		2009–10
Dan Ceman		2010–11
Brent Hughes		2011–12
Jeff Hutchins		2012–15
Marc LeFebvre		2015–17
Omar Pacha		2017–

Current squad[]

Squad for 2021–22 Elite League season^[6]

* Denotes two-way deal with Dundee Comets of the SNL

**Netminders**
No.		Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth	Joined from	Press Release
1		Adam Morrison	L	2021	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada	Fife Flyers, EIHL	[2]
44		Brython Preece	R	2019	Newport, Wales	No Team	[3]

**Defencemen**
No.	Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth	Joined from	Press Release
5	Drew Rumgay*	L	2021	Dundee, Scotland	Dundee Comets, SNL	[4]
6	Drydn Dow C	L	2021	Calgary, Alberta, Canada	HK Spišská Nová Ves, Slovak 1. Liga	[5]
11	Kris Inglis A	L	2016	Dundee, Scotland	Home Grown	[6]
12	Markus Kankaanperä	L	2021	Skellefteå, Sweden	HPK, Liiga	[7]
25	Kyle Haas A	L	2021	Calgary, Alberta, Canada	Fort Wayne Komets, ECHL	[8]
42	Michael Poirier	L	2021	Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada	Corsaires de Dunkerque, FFHG Division 1	[9]
65	Craig Moore	R	2021	Kirkcaldy, Scotland	Glasgow Clan, EIHL	[10]

**Forwards**
No.	Player	Position	Acquired	Place of Birth	Joined from	Press Release
8	Ben Brown*	F/D	2021	Dundee, Scotland	Dundee Comets, SNL	[11]
9	Charlie Combs	LW	2021	St Louis, Missouri, USA	Wichita Thunder, ECHL	[12]
10	Philippe Sanche	C	2021	Mercier, Quebec, Canada	Concordia Stingers, U Sports	[13]
14	Gabriel Desjardins A	LW	2021	Greenfield Park, Quebec, Canada	Boxers de Bordeaux, Ligue Magnus	[14]
15	Craig Garrigan	LW	2021	Dundee, Scotland	Nottingham Panthers, EIHL	[15]
18	Dillon Lawrence	C	2021	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Corsaires de Dunkerque, FFHG Division 1	[16]
21	Sebastian Bengtsson	LW	2021	Sweden	Väsby IK HK, HockeyAllsvenskan	[17]
22	Caly Robertson	F	2021	Kirkcaldy, Scotland	Leeds Chiefs, NIHL	[18]
23	Connor Sills	LW/RW	2021	Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada	Ottawa Gee-Gees, U Sports	[19]
29	Alexandre Ranger	RW	2021	LaSalle, Quebec, Canada	Boxers de Bordeaux, Ligue Magnus	[20]
37	Toms Rutkis	RW/C	2021	Riga, Latvia	Coventry Blaze, EIHL	[21]
51	Spencer Dorowicz A	C	2021	Olds, Alberta, Canada	Wichita Thunder, ECHL	[22]
81	Timi Lahtinen	LW/RW	2021	Helsinki, Finland	HK Spišská Nová Ves, Slovak 1. Liga	[23]

**On Loan**
No.		Player	Position	Acquired	Place of Birth	Playing For	Press Release

**Team Staff**
No.	Name	Position	Place of Birth	Joined from	Press Release
N/A	Omar Pacha	Head coach/GM	Boucherville, Quebec, Canada	Manchester Storm, EIHL	[24]
12	Markus Kankaanperä	Player/Assistant coach	Skellefteå, Sweden	HPK, Liiga	[25]
N/A	Kevin Ward	Equipment manager	Dundee, Scotland	Appointed in 2010	[26]
N/A	Chris Ward	Assistant equipment manager	Dundee, Scotland	Appointed in 2015	[27]
N/A	Mike Ward	Director of Hockey Operations	Dundee, Scotland	Appointed in 2001	[28]

**Recent departures**
No.		Player	Position	Acquired	Leaving For	Press Release
16		Cody Drover	LW	2021	Boxers de Bordeaux, Ligue Magnus	[29]

Honours[]

British National League

League: 2001–02
Playoffs: 2001–02, 2004–05

Scottish National League

Autumn Cup: 2009

Elite Ice Hockey League

Gardiner Conference: 2013–14^[7]

Individual

EIHL All-Stars

First Team [30]

2013–14: Dan Bakala
2016–17: Vinny Scarsella

Second Team [31]

2012–13: Nicola Riopel, Sami Ryhänen
2013–14: Rory Rawlyk, Nico Sacchetti
2016–17: Felix-Antoine Poulin
2019–20: Drydn Dow

References[]

^ @DundeeStars (15 October 2021). "Leadership group has been announced for the Kitmart Dundee Stars for 2021/22!!#COYStars" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ "Dundee CCS Stars' Elite application". Dundee Stars. 28 April 2010. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
^ "EIHL cancels all matches for rest of season".
^ "EIHL Board Suspend 2020-21 Season".
^ "No Elite League Season 2020/21".
^ "Dundee Stars at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
^ "Match Summaries: Braehead Clan 2 Cardiff Devils 4". Elite Ice Hockey League. 15 March 2014. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2014.

External links[]

Official website

[1] @DundeeStars (15 October 2021). "Leadership group has been announced for the Kitmart Dundee Stars for 2021/22!!#COYStars" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[2] "Dundee CCS Stars' Elite application". Dundee Stars. 28 April 2010. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.

[3] "EIHL cancels all matches for rest of season".

[4] "EIHL Board Suspend 2020-21 Season".

[5] "No Elite League Season 2020/21".

[6] "Dundee Stars at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 16 June 2020.

[7] "Match Summaries: Braehead Clan 2 Cardiff Devils 4". Elite Ice Hockey League. 15 March 2014. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2014.

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