Texas Stars

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


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.

Current roster
Updated July 15, 2024.


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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

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