Texas Stars facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Texas Stars |
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| 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 | Toby Petersen |
| Captain | Curtis McKenzie |
| Media | KBVO (TV) (channel 14) AHL.TV (Internet) |
| Affiliate(s) | 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) |
 Current season |
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The Texas Stars are a cool professional ice hockey team from Cedar Park, Texas. They are the main development team, or 'affiliate,' for the National Hockey League's (NHL) Dallas Stars. This means many players who play for the Texas Stars hope to one day play for the Dallas Stars! The team plays its home games at the H-E-B Center.
Contents
Team History: How the Stars Began
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The Texas Stars team has an interesting past. Before they were the Texas Stars, the team was known as the Iowa Chops. In April 2008, the Iowa team decided to stop working with the Dallas Stars. They even changed their name to the Chops for the 2008–09 season.
For that season, the Dallas Stars sent their young players, called "prospects," to play for four other teams. Some players even stayed with the Iowa Chops. These other teams included the Hamilton Bulldogs and the Manitoba Moose.
On April 28, 2009, the AHL said that a new team could start in the Austin area. This was allowed if Tom Hicks, who owned the NHL Dallas Stars, bought an existing AHL team within a year. He did this on May 4, 2010. The Texas Stars' owners bought the Iowa Chops team, which had taken a break for the 2009–10 season. This is how the Texas Stars officially started!
Early Success and First Championship
The team's very first season was a big hit! They finished second in their division. In the playoffs, they easily beat Rockford in the first round. Then, they won their first division championship by beating Chicago.
The Stars then won their first Robert W. Clarke Trophy. This made them the champions of the Western Conference. They played against Hamilton in a tough seven-game series and won. The Stars made it all the way to the 2010 Calder Cup Finals but lost in game six to Hershey.
The Texas Stars finally won the Calder Cup in 2014! They defeated the St. John's IceCaps in the finals to become champions. After this big win, their head coach, Willie Desjardins, left to coach the Vancouver Canucks.
In July 2014, Derek Laxdal became the new head coach. He had already won a championship with the Stars' other team, the Idaho Steelheads, in 2007. Also in 2014, Tom Gaglardi's group bought the Texas Stars. This meant the Dallas Stars now owned their own development team.
New Look and Recent Seasons
On June 11, 2015, the Stars showed off their new logo, colors, and jerseys. These new designs looked more like the Dallas Stars' uniforms.
In 2018, the Stars reached the Calder Cup finals again. However, they lost to the Toronto Marlies in a close seven-game series. During the 2019–20 season, Coach Laxdal moved up to become an assistant coach for the Dallas Stars. Neil Graham then became the new head coach for the Texas Stars.
In the 2023–24 season, the Stars had a challenging year. Even so, Mavrik Bourque was the top scorer in the AHL. He won the league's MVP award, called the Les Cunningham Award. He scored 26 goals and made 51 assists, totaling 77 points in 71 games.
After the 2024–25 season, Coach Neil Graham was promoted to the Dallas Stars. Former player and assistant coach Toby Petersen was named the new head coach of the Texas Stars.
Season Results: How the Stars Have Played
This table shows how the Texas Stars have done each season.
| 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 | — | — | — |
| 2024–25 | 72 | 43 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 89 | .618 | 240 | 210 | 2nd, Central | 2025 | BYE | W, 3–0, GR | W, 3–2, MIL | L, 2–4, ABB | — |
Meet the Players
Current Team Roster
Updated July 19, 2025.
| # | Nat | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 |  |
Jack Becker | F | R | 28 | 2024 | Dellwood, Minnesota | Texas |
| 5 | |
Tommy Bergsland | D | R | 24 | 2025 | Wayzata, Minnesota | Texas |
| 21 |  |
Sean Chisholm | C | L | 24 | 2025 | Caledonia, Ontario | Texas |
| 26 | |
Michael Karow | D | L | 26 | 2022 | Green Bay, Wisconsin | Texas |
| 37 | |
Kyle Looft | D | L | 27 | 2024 | Mankato, Minnesota | Texas |
| 16 | |
Curtis McKenzie (C) | LW | L | 34 | 2021 | Golden, British Columbia | Texas |
| – | |
Kaleb Pearson | RW | R | 25 | 2025 | St. Mary's, Ontario | Texas |
| 38 | |
Artem Shlaine | C | L | 23 | 2025 | Moscow, Russia | Texas |
Team Captains Through the Years
The captain is a very important player on a hockey team. Here are the players who have been captains for the Texas Stars:
- 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 Jersey Numbers
When a team retires a player's jersey number, it means no other player on that team will ever wear that number again. It's a special honor!
| No. | Player | Position | Career | No. retirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | Travis Morin | C | 2009–2019 | October 19, 2019 |
Famous Former Players
These players played for the Texas Stars and then went on to play at least 100 games in the National Hockey League (NHL), which is the top 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 of the Texas Stars
Here are the coaches who have led the Texas Stars team:
- Glen Gulutzan, 2009–2011
- Jeff Pyle, 2011–2012
- Willie Desjardins, 2012–2014
- Derek Laxdal, 2014–2019
- Neil Graham, 2019–2025
- Toby Petersen, 2025–Present
Team Records: Top Performances
These are some of the best records set by Texas Stars players!
Single Season Records
These records are for the most goals, assists, or points a player got in just one season.
- Goals: Matěj Blümel, 39 (2024–25)
- Assists: Travis Morin, 56 (2013–14)
- Points: Travis Morin, 88 (2013–14)
- Penalty Minutes: Luke Gazdic, 155 (2009–10)
- GAA (Goals Against Average): Richard Bachman, 2.20 (2010–11)
- SV% (Save Percentage): Richard Bachman, .927 (2010–11)
- Wins (Goaltender): Richard Bachman, 28 (2010–11)
- Shutouts (Goaltender): Richard Bachman, 6 (2010–11)
- Note: Goaltending records require a minimum of 25 games played by the goalie.
Career Records
These records show the total achievements of players over their entire time with the Texas Stars.
- 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
