The 31-year-old center, joins the club after spending the past five seasons playing for HC Bolzano in the Austrian-based league, ICEHL and last season, he featured in 66 games for the Foxes and recorded 18 points (9G, 9A).
Born in Maple, Ontario, Domenic made his European debut back in 2019 with Bolzano and would go on to appear in 227 games for the Italian side, totalling 102 points (39G, 63A), as well as icing in 13 Champions Hockey League matches.
Alberga, who stands at 6-foot and 2-inches tall, also played four full seasons in the ECHL with Greenville Swamp Rabbits, Fort Wayne Komets, Wichita Thunder and Norfolk Admirals, whilst also having a 16-game loan spell in the AHL with Tucson Roadrunners, the then affiliate of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes.
Domenic has 235 games of experience in the ECHL, as well as 259 games of major junior experience in the OHL and he also represented Italy on nine occasions, including six Olympic Games Qualifiers.
LEFEBVRE ON ALBERGA
After securing the signature of the experienced centerman, Stars Director of Hockey Operations and Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre, said: “We wanted to add a center who could gives us some depth down the middle, who is a good two-way player and Domenic is coming from a program who have been a top-four team in that league for every year he has been there.
“They get to the finals quite a bit, so he has a winning mentality and attitude that he is going to bring to us and not only on the ice but off the ice as well.
“He has some offence to his game as well, he has been more of a role player in Bolzano but when he played in the coast, he put up some good numbers and got a chance in the American league as well, so he adds some great experience to our line-up.
“He has played in Game 7’s a few times last year, so he has the experience of playing in those moments and in a strong hockey league in Austria, so he adds to what we are looking to do this year.”
With 15 signings now confirmed, LeFebvre discussed what he is looking for in the final part of his recruitment, he said: “We are getting there, we are pretty loaded up on the wings and our defence is complete, really now it is just rounding off the offence with the centers and our goaltending.
“We are taking our time with the goalies, people are probably wondering what is going on but there are lots of goalies out there, so we are just making sure we get the right ones to help us win a title this year and achieve our aspirations.
“So, we are just taking our time, July 1st is upon us with free agency in North America and there will be a lot of trickledown effect of good goalies becoming available in the next couple of weeks.”
ALBERGA ON SWITCHING TO THE EIHL
Once the deal to bring him to Dundee was completed, Domenic said: “I am excited, it is a new change for me after playing in Italy for the past five years, so I am excited to come and I have heard it is a great city with a great fanbase.
“The hockey that we played against Belfast in the CHL last year, you cannot underestimate it and this league is getting better so I am excited to come and see if we can push towards a championship.
“I almost hit one in the past couple of years, so that itch is still there and it would be nice to do it with a new team.”
Discussing how the move came about, he added: “Marc coached against me when I played in the US a while back, so I am bit familiar with him and his coaching style, also im friends with a lot of guys who have played under Marc and everyone has said good things about how he runs the team and runs the bench.
“I am looking forward to working with him and his mindset is focused on winning that championship, so it starts with getting into the playoffs and seeing what happens from there because you never know, once you are in anything can happen from there.
“Looking at the guys we have signed so far, it looks like the team is going to be really strong and I am excited to get started.”
Alberga also shared what he knows of the Elite League so far, commenting: “I have a bunch of buddies playing in the league right now, so I have been chatting with them to get their insight on it and obviously playing in Belfast last year was a lot of fun, it is a great arena and they were a good team.”
Describing his own style of play, he continued: “I would say I am a solid, all-around two-way centerman, who can play any position or role that the coach wants me in.
“I want to contribute a lot offensively, so we will see what happens because you have to earn everything and I cannot wait to get to Dundee, meet the guys, get into training camp and see what can happen.”
Finally, he shared a message for the Stars fans and he said: “I am excited to come and meet a new fanbase and from my friends that I talked to that have played in Dundee, they said the fans are great.
“The interactions with the people are always friendly and lovely, so it is nice to have that support and hopefully we can perform for them on the ice and give them something to cheer about.”
ALBERGA’S CAREER
Domenic’s career started back in 2007, as he began playing with Markham Majors U16 AAA team in the Greater Toronto Hockey League and the following season, he stepped up to the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) and spent the year with Villanova Knights.
In the 2008-2009 campaign, the Canadian scored 40 points in 49 games, whilst accumulating 104 penalty minutes and being named OJHL (Phillips Division) Rookie of the Year, before he then continued his progression by moving up to the major juniors after he was drafted by Brampton Battalion in the OHL Priority Selection.
Alberga would spend two seasons in Brampton, scoring 22 points in 77 games his first year and 21 in 71 matches, the following year as they qualified for the playoffs in both seasons.
Ahead of the 2011-2012 campaign, he moved to Sarnia Sting and would flourish to nearly double his points production to 39 points from 72 games, and again reaching the postseason.
For his final year of junior hockey, Domenic swapped jerseys again as he was traded to Kitchener Rangers and added another 14 points to his junior tally, giving him a total of 86 points from 259 career games in the OHL as well as 10 playoff points in 29 postseason appearances.
Domenic then pursued the academic route as he played in the Canadian collegiate league for the next two seasons, staying close to home with Toronto-based, Ryerson University Rams.
In his debut season, he would be named CIS (OUA West) Rookie of the Year, as well as on the OUA West All-Rookie Team, Second All-Star Team and the league-wide, CIS All-Rookie Team.
Across the two years he spent playing in the CIS (now USports), the centerman racked up 38 goals and 42 assists in 58 games and then made his professional debut at the end of the 2015-2016 season, as he joined ECHL outfit, Greenville Road Warriors.
Alberga dressed in 13 games for the South Carolina side, contributing four points before then signing a full-time deal in the summer to join the newly-rebranded Greenville Swamp Rabbits.
He would ice eight times for Greenville before being traded to Fort Wayne Komets midseason and after 13 games in Indiana, he was then dealt to Wichita Thunder and finished the year in Kansas.
In total, Domenic made 56 appearances in the 2015-2016 season, with a combined total of 23 points and he would then find a new home with Norfolk Admirals for the 2016-2017 campaign.
Beginning a three-year stint with the Admirals, the Ontario-native scored 29 points in 53 games during his first season at the club, before improving to 37 in 72 fixtures the next year and 46 in 41 matches over the 2018-2019 campaign.
Alberga was given a professional try-out in the American Hockey League with the Arizona Coyotes AHL affiliate team, Tucson Roadrunners in December 2018 and he would feature 16 times, scoring three points.
In the 2019-2020 season, Domenic then hopped across the pond to begin his European career, signing with HC Bolzano in Northern Italy and he would stay there for the next five years.
A call-up to the Italian national team arrived in 2022 as he was selected for the team to play in the Olympic Games Qualifiers and also another six international matches.
He helped Bolzano to reach the playoffs in all five seasons and in the 2022-2023 campaign they narrowly missed out on a national championship, losing in the final, then also making it to the semi-finals this past year.
In his 17-year-career so far, Domenic has featured in 865 matches, recorded 183 goals, 267 assists and collected 672 penalty minutes, while also playing in 79 playoff games, where he tallied 32 points (9G, 23A) and 42 penalty minutes.
Domenic is our 15th signing of the summer and joins Drydn Dow, Ben O’Connor, Jonathan McBean, Xavier Pouliot, Craig Garrigan, Kris Inglis, Kyle Pouncy, Brett Gravelle, Craig Moore, Keanu Yamamoto, Brendan Harms, Jake Elmer, Alex Tonge and Cole MacDonald on the roster for next season.
Alberga has also shared a dressing room with a number of former Stars players throughout his career, including: Nakita Kashirsky, Adam Morrison, Brian Hart, Jordan Southorn, Alexandre Ranger, Josh Brittain, Joey Sides and Tommaso Traversa.
Domenic will wear #8 for the Stars and you can sponsor his equipment for this season right now, click HERE.
To see Domenic’s career stats on Elite Prospects click HERE.
Banner image: HC Bolzano.
