The Texas Stars are an American professional minor league ice hockey team based in Cedar Park, Texas (near Austin, Texas) and the American Hockey League (AHL) affliate team for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL).
History[]
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 which the Dallas Stars sent prospects to were the Hamilton Bulldogs, Manitoba Moose, Peoria Rivermen and the 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 and in July of 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.
The Texas Stars games are only broadcast on a local television station (which is KBVO) and are no longer broadcast on public radio in Austin. Brien Rea will provide the play-by-play in 2015–16.
On June 11, 2015, the Stars unveiled their new logo, color scheme, and jerseys to more closely match the parent club's identity.
On June, 2018, the Stars faced the Toronto Marlies after defeating the Rockford Ice Hogs in Western Conference finals. Sadly, the Stars lost to the Marlies.
On April, 2023, the Stars made it to the playoffs again. This time in the Semi-Division finals they swept Rockford. They faced an old rival, the Milwaukee Admirals. They sadly lost and got eliminated 3-2 series.
Season-by-Season Record[]
| Calder Cup Champions | Conference Champions | Division Champions | League Leader |
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | Pts | PCT | GF | GA | Standing | Year | 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 | |||
Head Coaches[]
- Glen Gulutzan (2009–2011)
- Jeff Pyle (2011–2012)
- Willie Desjardins (2012–2014)
- Derek Laxdal (2014–2020)
- Neil Graham (2020-present)
Team Captains[]
- Landon Wilson (2009–2010)
- Brad Lukowich (2010–2012)
- Maxime Fortunus (2012–2015)
- Travis Morin (2015–2018)
- Curtis Mackenzie (2018-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)
Career[]
- Career Goals: Travis Morin, 157
- Career Assists: Travis Morin, 310
- Career Points: Travis Morin, 467
- Career Penalty Minutes: Luke Gazdic, 447
- Career Goaltending Wins: Jack Campbell, 66
- Career Shutouts: Richard Bachman, Jack Campbell, 9
- Career Games: Travis Morin, 543