By Kris Smith
Zarb made his first move outside of North America when he signed with the Stars in 2010 and brought with him a whole stack of North American hockey experience, after he had played in some top leagues.
Prior to moving to Europe, Chris has iced in the American Hockey League, East Coach Hockey League, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the United States Hockey League.
Firstly, Chris walked us through where hockey has taken him since leaving Dundee and he began: “I ended up playing one more year after I left Scotland and it was in France.
“After that, I moved home and starting coaching youth hockey as a side job and I am currently part owner of a hockey development program.
“We teach kids Hockey IQ through video analysis, so I work from home but the coaching side has been extremely humbling.
“I have been fortunate to win a state, national and world Championship with the teams I have coached in the last five years.”
Zarb is one of many players that made lots of memories during his time in Scotland and Dundee and speaking about his time in Tayside, he added: “I have great memories from my time in Scotland!
“The culture, the people and the natural terrain, it was such a big change for me in all regards of life, but a very welcome change.
“Most of my memories of Scotland are not hockey related.
“The times I had with Tristan Harper, Peter Cartwright, Mark McGill and Jay Latulippe are memories I will cherish the rest of my life.
“However, my favourite moment in a Stars jersey was scoring the game winner in overtime against Fife!”
The six-foot-four-inch defenseman was playing for Toledo Walleye in the ECHL the season before he joined the Stars and discussing how the move to Dundee and the Elite League came about, Chris said: “I came to Dundee because I realised that my dreams of playing in the NHL were over.
“I wanted to experience life in a different world and I did just that.
“I came for life experience but I left with lifelong friends and memories.”
The native of San Diego, California has managed to stay deeply involved in hockey since retiring and talking about the opportunities the game has given him since hanging up his skates, Chris replied: “As I stated earlier, everything I do in my life, work wise, is hockey related.
“The development program that my partners and I have created is pretty special.
“One of my partners in business is Patrik Stefan, who was the 1st overall draft pick in the 1999 NHL draft. He has been a great mentor for me and we also coached youth hockey together for the last 5 years for a team in Detroit, Little Caesars.
The other is Karen O’Brien, we coached her son on Little Caesars and she is a prominent figure in multiple businesses in the US, so We have a great team!”
“I have been blessed in this sport.”
Finally, Chris had a message to share for all the Stars fans back in Dundee and he began: “Firstly, thank you for everything.
“Thank you for welcoming and embracing me into your hockey family.
“The Wards were great owners, from the lunches after practice, to how they treated our team in turmoil, they always had the players best interests at heart.
“The fans are loyal and passionate and I am SO happy I got to experience life in Scotland!”
Next up in this week’s series of ‘Look Back’ articles on the 11th Dundee Stars season you can read the ‘Where Are They Now’ interview of another former Stars player from the 2011-2012 season and that will be available tomorrow at 12pm!
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]
