I wanted to pull this “Message From The GM” together for you all with some of my thoughts on the season to date but also, as importantly, looking ahead to the exciting remainder of this campaign!
As you will all be aware, this season has been a big roller coaster, both on & off the ice.
Obviously, the past couple of years have been a huge challenge for every club in the Elite League navigating Covid as it surged across the UK, but also working our way, slowly, out the other side of it.
As a club, dealing with issues such as Covid, the large number of injuries and the restrictions in crowds we believe that we have come out of this situation in a good position, both on and off the ice – setting us up for a great push for the last 2 months of the regular season.
This upcoming weekend will be a great challenge for our group as we take on the Sheffield Steelers.
The challenge starts in Sheffield on Saturday and then back home at the Dundee Ice Arena at 5pm on Sunday afternoon – hopefully with a big crowd to cheer us on to claiming another 2 vital points. Buy your tickets NOW!
Team News:
Throughout the last few months, as I always do, we have looked at all options on the player personnel – if I see an opportunity to improve our squad and have the ability, I will do so.
That said, as you will all be aware, Markus Kankannpera approached us to request his release to allow him to join another club in Europe. Whilst the club received compensation, which finally agreed upon and accepted, this still had some short-term repercussions.
In saying that, we acted quickly to sign Kalvis Ozols who arrived last Thursday afternoon and played last weekend.
As Kalvis settles in to his new surroundings, gets to know our systems and his new teammates I am sure he will help us in pursuit of our goals.
Looking back to Saturday past, we didn’t play the consistent game we wanted and expect from our group, and it ultimately showed on the scoreboard at the end of 60.
This certainly wasn’t good enough and it certainly gave the guys the extra fuel and desire for Sunday in Fife.
As much as Saturday was disappointing, we felt having Kalvis and Kris Inglis back healthy, gave both the ice time and game time necessary to have the very strong road game on Sunday and thankfully we skated away with a vital 2 points over our old rivals.
Now that the signing deadline is over, we have put faith in all the players for the remainder of the season.
Regarding injuries, we are hoping that Alex Ranger will be back in a few weeks – he has been out for a significant period of time but we feel he is on track to get back in the lineup soon.
What we do know is that when he does return, he will bring qualities that will be very welcomed as we head into the final stretch of what is going to be a tight and exciting end to the season.
Season Ticket Holders, Fans and Sponsors.
As a club, we just want to extend a massive THANK YOU to our season ticket holders for your patience during the 6 games played in front of restrictions imposed on us from the Government.
I know it must have been difficult to miss those games, but we are very grateful that you all understood the difficulties and the struggles the club (and the other Scottish teams) faced during this period of time – thankfully, we appear to be clear of restrictions, which will hopefully never return!!
As the deadline has now passed, many of you have decided to donate the parked games to the club, which goes without saying, is extremely appreciated by everyone within the Organisation.
All of our fans and sponsors support over the past 2 years has simply been incredible and has allowed us to not just return to the ice, but to do so on a competitive level. Thanks again to all of you.
2000’s Night:
On Friday March 25th, we will be hosting arguably our most popular event of the season and this year it will be our 2000’s night!
This will be our 3rd theme night decade edition after the great success of the previous 80’s and 90’s events!
We haven’t decided the song yet, but rest assured that past video “Stars” will be present and I fully anticipate that the likes of Drydn Dow and Craig Garrigan will be front and centre yet again……. and no doubt Charlie and Kyle will make an appearance too……..WATCH THIS SPACE!!
We look forward to having another great night with you all!
Student Night Ticket Bundle:
This new initiative has been a real focus for our full-time intern, Jack Crerar. The club has decided to create a bundle package for full time students that we announced just recently (see website and social media feeds for full info).
With our direct involvement with the University of Dundee who we have an excellent working relationship with and the City hosting different educational programs, we felt it was important to drive this for our Wednesday night home games.
We are hoping those 6 tickets for the price of 5 games will allow new students to experience a night at the DIA – so if you know any students out there who are yet to experience a Stars game, please pass on the message!
Finally, we look forward to seeing you all this coming Sunday (5pm face-off) when we take on the Sheffield Steelers in what is going to be a tough game, but one I know our team will be up for and with your support to drive us on to hopefully take the 2 points!
You can buy your tickets HERE! or webcast HERE!
