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Texas Stars
Texas Stars logo.svg
City Cedar Park, Texas
League American Hockey League
Conference Western
Division Central
Founded 1999
Operated 2009–present
Home arena H-E-B Center at Cedar Park
Colors Victory green, silver, black, white
                   
Owner(s) Tom Gaglardi
General manager Scott White
Head coach Neil Graham
Captain Curtis McKenzie
Media KBVO (TV) (channel 14)
AHL.TV (Internet)
Affiliates Dallas Stars (NHL)
Idaho Steelheads (ECHL)
Franchise history
1999–2001 Louisville Panthers
2005–2008 Iowa Stars
2008–2009 Iowa Chops
2009–present Texas Stars
Championships
Regular season titles 1 (2013–14)
Division Championships 3 (2012–13, 2013–14, 2022–23)
Conference Championships 3 (2010, 2014, 2018)
Calder Cups 1 (2014)

The Texas Stars are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Cedar Park, Texas, near Austin, with home games at the H-E-B Center. They are owned by the National Hockey League's (NHL) Dallas Stars and are the team's top developmental affiliate.

History

Texas Stars vs. Milwaukee Admirals February 2024 02 (face-off)
The Stars playing at the Milwaukee Admirals in 2024

In April 2008, the Iowa Stars announced that they would no longer affiliate with the Dallas Stars and changed the team's name to Chops for the 2008–09 season. For the 2008–09 season, Dallas made agreements to send their AHL prospects to four other teams, while a few remained with the Chops. AHL teams that received Dallas Stars prospects were the Hamilton Bulldogs, Manitoba Moose, Peoria Rivermen, and Grand Rapids Griffins.

On April 28, 2009, the AHL granted a provisional Austin-area franchise to Tom Hicks, owner of the NHL Stars, with the stipulation that Hicks purchase an existing AHL franchise within one year. That condition was met on May 4, 2010, when the AHL approved the Texas Stars' ownership group's purchase of the Iowa Chops franchise, which had been suspended for the 2009–10 season.

The team's inaugural season was a successful one. After finishing second in the West Division, the Stars swept Rockford in the first round of the playoffs, then claimed their first division championship by defeating Chicago four games to three. The Stars then won their first Robert W. Clarke Trophy by defeating Hamilton in another seven-game series to become the Western Conference champions. The Stars eventually fell to Hershey in game six of the 2010 Calder Cup Finals.

The Stars won the Calder Cup in 2014, defeating the St. John's IceCaps in the finals. After the season, head coach Willie Desjardins resigned to accept the head coaching position with the Vancouver Canucks. In July 2014 he was succeeded by Derek Laxdal, who won a Kelly Cup championship with the Stars' ECHL affiliate, the Idaho Steelheads, in 2007. Also during 2014, the Stars were purchased by Tom Gaglardi's ownership group, thus having the AHL affiliate under control of the parent club.

On June 11, 2015, the Stars unveiled their new logo, color scheme, and jerseys to more closely match the parent club's identity.

In 2018, the Stars once again made it to the Calder Cup finals, but lost to the Toronto Marlies in seven games. During the 2019–20 season, head coach Laxdal was promoted to the Dallas Stars as an assistant and the Texas Stars promoted Neil Graham to head coaching position.

Season-by-season results

Calder Cup Champions Conference Champions Division Champions League leader
Regular season Playoffs
Season GP W L OTL SOL Pts PCT GF GA Standing Year Prelims 1st round 2nd round 3rd round Finals
2009–10 80 46 27 3 4 99 .619 238 198 2nd, West 2010 — W, 4–0, RFD W, 4–3, CHI W, 4–3, HAM L, 2–4, HER
2010–11 80 41 29 4 6 92 .575 213 210 4th, West 2011 — L, 2–4, MIL — — —
2011–12 76 31 40 3 2 67 .441 224 251 5th, West 2012 Did not qualify
2012–13 76 43 22 5 6 97 .638 235 201 1st, South 2013 — W, 3–1, MIL L, 1–4, OKC — —
2013–14 76 48 18 3 7 106 .697 274 197 1st, West 2014 — W, 3–0, OKC W, 4–2, GR W, 4–3, TOR W, 4–1, STJ
2014–15 76 40 22 13 1 94 .618 242 216 2nd, West 2015 — L, 0–3, RFD — — —
2015–16 76 40 25 8 3 91 .599 277 246 3rd, Pacific 2016 — L, 1–3, SD — — —
2016–17 76 34 37 1 4 73 .480 224 265 7th, Pacific 2017 Did not qualify
2017–18 76 38 24 8 6 90 .592 223 231 2nd, Pacific 2018 — W, 3–1, ONT W, 4–1, TUC W, 4–2, RFD L, 3–4, TOR
2018–19 76 37 31 4 4 82 .539 238 231 6th, Central 2019 Did not qualify
2019–20 62 27 28 3 4 61 .492 171 192 6th, Central 2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 38 17 18 3 0 37 .487 117 124 5th, Central 2021 No playoffs were held
2021–22 72 32 28 6 6 76 .528 219 230 5th, Central 2022 L, 0–2, RFD — — — —
2022–23 72 40 20 9 3 92 .639 265 210 1st, Central 2023 BYE W, 3–0, RFD L, 2–3, MIL — —
2023–24 72 33 33 4 2 72 .500 234 240 4th, Central 2024 W, 2–0, MB L, 2–3, MIL — — —

Players

Current roster

Updated November 7, 2024.

Team roster
No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
14 Canada Arcuri, FrancescoFrancesco Arcuri C L 21 2023 Toronto, Ontario Dallas
27 United States Becker, JackJack Becker F R 27 2024 Dellwood, Minnesota Texas
6 Switzerland Bichsel, LianLian Bichsel D L 20 2023 Olten, Switzerland Dallas
18 Canada Capobianco, KyleKyle Capobianco (A) D L 27 2024 Mississauga, Ontario Dallas
35 Sweden Hellberg, MagnusMagnus Hellberg G L 33 2024 Uppsala, Sweden Dallas
9 Canada Hryckowian, JustinJustin Hryckowian C L 23 2024 L'Île-Bizard, Quebec Dallas
19 Canada Hughes, CameronCameron Hughes (A) C L 28 2024 Edmonton, Alberta Dallas
12 Finland Hyry, ArttuArttu Hyry RW R 23 2024 Oulu, Finland Dallas
26 United States Karow, MichaelMichael Karow D L 26 2022 Green Bay, Wisconsin Texas
4 United States Krys, LukeLuke Krys D R 24 2024 Ridgefield, Connecticut Dallas
15 Canada Kyrou, ChristianChristian Kyrou D R 21 2023 Toronto, Ontario Dallas
17 Canada Lind, KoleKole Lind RW L 26 2024 Swift Current, Saskatchewan Dallas
37 United States Looft, KyleKyle Looft D L 26 2024 Mankato, Minnesota Texas
25 Canada McDonald, KyleKyle McDonald RW R 22 2023 Ottawa, Ontario Dallas
16 Canada McKenzie, CurtisCurtis McKenzie (C) LW L 33 2021 Golden, British Columbia Texas
20 Norway Pettersen, EmilioEmilio Pettersen C L 24 2024 Manglerud, Norway Dallas
1 Canada Poirier, RemiRemi Poirier G L 23 2022 Farnham, Quebec Dallas
36 Canada Romano, AnthonyAnthony Romano C R 24 2024 Richmond Hill, Ontario Texas
13 Canada Seminoff, MatthewMatthew Seminoff RW R 20 2023 Leesburg, Virginia Dallas
40 United States Stranges, AntonioAntonio Stranges LW L 22 2022 Ann Arbor, Michigan Dallas
29 Canada Wheatcroft, ChaseChase Wheatcroft F L 22 2023 Calgary, Alberta Dallas
8 Canada White, GavinGavin White D R 22 2023 Brockville, Ontario Dallas

Team captains

  • Landon Wilson, 2009–2010
  • Brad Lukowich, 2010–2012
  • Maxime Fortunus, 2012–2015
  • Travis Morin, 2015–2017
  • Curtis McKenzie, 2017–2018, 2021–present
  • Justin Dowling, 2018–2019
  • Dillon Heatherington, 2019–2020
  • Cole Schneider, 2021

Retired numbers

Texas Stars retired numbers
No. Player Position Career No. retirement
23 Travis Morin C 2009–2019 October 19, 2019

Notable alumni

The following players have played both 100 games for Texas and 100 games in the National Hockey League:

  • Gavin Bayreuther
  • Jordie Benn
  • Jack Campbell
  • Jason Dickinson
  • Brenden Dillon
  • Justin Dowling
  • Remi Elie
  • Luke Gazdic
  • Denis Gurianov
  • Joel Hanley
  • Tanner Kero
  • Brad Lukowich
  • Curtis McKenzie
  • Patrik Nemeth
  • Jamie Oleksiak
  • Toby Petersen
  • Alex Petrovic
  • Brett Ritchie
  • Colton Sceviour

Head coaches

  • Glen Gulutzan, 2009–2011
  • Jeff Pyle, 2011–2012
  • Willie Desjardins, 2012–2014
  • Derek Laxdal, 2014–2019
  • Neil Graham, 2019–present

Team records

Single season
Goals: Matt Fraser, 37 (2011–12)
Assists: Travis Morin, 56 (2013–14)
Points: Travis Morin, 88 (2013–14)
Penalty Minutes: Luke Gazdic, 155 (2009–10)
GAA: Richard Bachman, 2.20 (2010–11)
SV%: Richard Bachman, .927 (2010–11)
Wins: Richard Bachman, 28 (2010–11)
Shutouts: Richard Bachman, 6 (2010–11)
  • Goaltending records need a minimum 25 games played by the goaltender
Career
Career goals: Travis Morin, 175
Career assists: Travis Morin, 385
Career points: Travis Morin, 560
Career penalty minutes: Luke Gazdic, 447
Career goaltending wins: Jack Campbell, 66
Career shutouts: Richard Bachman, Jack Campbell, 9
Career games: Travis Morin, 686
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