By Kris Smith
In the club’s 17th season, they finished tenth in the Elite League with 48 points from 56 fixtures and that meant they missed out on the playoffs for the first time in the last three seasons.
In the expanded 12 team league via the addition of Guildford Flames and Milton Keynes Lightning, the Stars won 39 per cent of their Elite League matches that season but they were six points behind their Scottish rivals, Braehead Clan and 20 points behind their biggest rivals, Fife Flyers.
The Kirkcaldy club claimed the seventh spot in the table and the Clan came in at ninth but there was then an 37-point gap between Dundee and Edinburgh Capitals, who brought up the rear of the league.
Also, there was 37 points between the Stars and the league winning Cardiff Devils side and Dundee also had a negative goal difference of -80 in that campaign after scoring 190 goals and conceding 270 times across the Elite League and Challenge Cup.
However, against their Scottish rivals that season, Dundee won more than half of their matches but were outscored overall by all three teams 99-111.
Therefore, against Fife, the Stars split their 10-game series but were outscored 47-26 by the team from Kirkcaldy and against the Clan, they only won three of their eight meetings and were again outscored 20-29.
Although, they were dominant against the Caps and won seven of their 10 clashes with Edinburgh and outscored the side from Murrayfield 43-35.
Also, the team’s highest scoring match and biggest win of the season came against the Caps, as a 9-4 victory on the road in March gave them a five-goal winning margin.
However, the Stars were involved in three 13-goal games as also win 9-4 against Milton Keynes at home in the same month and defeated the Flyers 7-6 after penalties in Kirkcaldy in the January.
Finally, the team’s only shutout that season came against the Challenge Cup Champions, Belfast Giants and the Stars blanked the Northern Irish club 2-0 in Scotland in the November of 2017.
In the 2017-2018 season, Canadian forward, Gabriel Lévesque led the team in points and assists in the Elite League with 62 points (14 goals + 48 assists) from 56 league matches.
Meanwhile, American winger, Brian Hart and Canadian winger, Marc-Olivier Mimar led the team in league goals with 19 strikes each in 52 and 55 appearances respectively.
However, Canadian blueliner, Emerson Hrynyk was the most penalised Star during league matches, after racking up 117 penalty minutes in 50 games.
Also, in the Challenge Cup, Swedish forward, Johan Anderson led the team with the most points after he collected seven points (2+5) in six matches.
Although, the centerman was tied with Joey de Concilys and Mimar for the most assists and his fellow Swede, Jimmy Jensen had the most goals with four in seven appearances.
Whereas, defender Anthony Mastrodicasa was the most punished player, after spending 23 minutes in the sin bin across four matches.
Next-up in our ‘Look Back’ series, we catch-up with a former Star from the 2017-2018 season and see how his life has changed since leaving the Stars.
If you want to be a part of the historic 20th Dundee Stars season then you can buy your season tickets by contacting [email protected]
