Romans joins the club from the HockeyAllsvenskan league in Sweden and he split the past year between two clubs, Tingsryds AIF and IF Troja-Ljungby, which also meant he was teammates with recently announced duo, Anton Svensson and Hugo Reinhardt.
The 28-year-old first moved into the Swedish second league in 2020, joining Tingsryds and across the last two years, he has contributed 30 points (11G, 19A).
Born in Riga, Latvia, Semjonovs also holds Swedish nationality and has played in the country every season for the last 13 years and this will be the first time he starts a campaign outside of Sweden.
After rising through the Swedish junior leagues with IFK Arboga at U18, U20 and then into senior level, Romans played his first full campaign at the pro level in 2012-2013, where he recorded 32 points (17G, 15A) in 42 games.
It was also at that time that he was being selected to represent his birth nation, Latvia at U18 and U20 level in the International Junior tournaments, in which he scored 5 points in 8 games.
The first time Semjonovs played outside of either Sweden or Latvia was when he joined Danish side, Aalborg Pirates for their remaining seven regular season games.
After scoring 29 points (16G, 13A) for Arboga, the winger then went on to add five more points in the Danish league and made four appearances in the playoffs.
The following year, Romans returned to HockeyEttan and played four consecutive years in the league, where he iced for five teams and accumulated 135 points in 177 games and that resulted in his first move to the second tier.
The 6-foot-tall winger has also won numerous awards throughout his career with most recognising his offensive production.
Firstly in 2012, he had the most goals in all of the Swedish junior elite league with 32. As well as the most in the western division (21) and also the most points (39), before adding 19 more points in the spring series.
Then in 2013, the 190lbs forward had the most points by a junior (22) in the HockeyEttan league, which is the third highest level in Sweden and he once again added more in the spring with an extra 10 points.
By 2014, Semjonovs continued to lead the spring series in points in the HockeyEttan West division with 18 and in the 2019-2020 season, he had the most goals in the south division of the same league (15) and the most points (27).
After adding the highly offensive winger, Stars GM and Head Coach, Jeff Mason said: “Romans is a forward with some experience at high levels, he has top six skill and from watching him play and speaking to his former coaches, he is not afraid to get in on the forecheck and use his frame to turn pucks over.
“He does not shy away from the physical part of the game or trying to win pucks back, so he will fit right into what we want to do here.
“He also has a great shot and I believe he will contribute quite a bit for us from out on the wing.
“so, I believe he should be highly effective here and if you look at his production in Sweden over the years, it is very similar to a Swede who was in Dundee last year, but that is not comparing them in how they play in games, but he should be someone who has a lot of success with us.”
Then the Stars boss discussed why he chose to add three European players who have been playing in Sweden to his team, which currently has nine North Americans and seven Brits on it.
Mason explained: “It certainly brings a more well-rounded game to the team and Sweden is very much a hockey powerhouse, where the players are very skilled and the game is taught very well there from a young age.
“Anyone who plays there and has success, is a very good player.
“When building the team, you are trying to get a lot of different pieces that will add up to being a successful team and I am certainly happy to add Romans, I think he will be very good for us.”
Once he had signed the one-year deal, Romans then added: “I am really happy to be joining the Stars, it is a new thing for me to be moving to another country and I think it will be a lot of fun and I am really excited to come to Dundee.
“I have heard from some guys who played in the UK before about the league and they said it was a good league and with a lot of fun hockey and that it is fun to play there.”
Semjonovs then shared more about the type of player he is and what sold him on the move to Scotland.
He added: “I am a offensive minded player, who likes to carry the puck and take the game to the other team, but it is all about being a team player to win games.
“When I talked to Jeff, we just talked about Dundee and how nice it is over in Scotland and also how he plans to play the game and what he wants from me, and it all sounded good so I wanted to give it a try.
“I have also talked to Sebastian Bengtsson a bit about it as he played there last year and he said it was a great club, a great city and everything was great for him.”
In his career so far, Romans has featured in 530 matches, scored 239 goals, assisted 248 times, and has collected 397 penalty minutes, whilst also making 71 playoff appearances and collecting 61 points (37G, 24A) and 79 penalty minutes.
Romans is our 17th signing of the summer and joins Drydn Dow, Craig Garrigan, Philippe Sanche, Chris Gerrie, Brython Preece, Mac Howlett, Toms Rutkis, Kris Inglis, Carter Folk, Elijiah Barriga, Ryan Verrier, Fabrizio Ricci, Devon Daniels, Ben Sokay, Anton Svensson and Hugo Reinhardt on the roster for next season.
You can get your season tickets to watch these 17 players and the rest of the team in the 2022-2023 campaign by contacting: [email protected]
Semjonovs will wear the #25 Stars jersey next season.
To view Roman’s career stats on Elite Prospects click HERE.
Featured image: Hokeja Zinas.
