Dutertre joins the Stars from the Tulsa Oilers (ECHL), where he served as an Assistant Coach from 2021 to 2024 before being promoted to Associate Coach ahead of the 2024/25 season.
During his time with the Oilers, Dutertre helped guide the team to three ECHL Semi-Final appearances. The 2024/25 season proved particularly successful, with Tulsa recording a franchise-record 22 road wins and reaching the 40-win mark for just the second time.
Prior to joining Tulsa, Dutertre worked with the University of Saskatchewan from 2014 to 2018, where he coached both the men’s and women’s programmes and reached the national championships on four occasions. He then spent three seasons as an Assistant Coach with the Swift Current Broncos (WHL) from 2018 to 2021.
Internationally, Dutertre has served as a National Skating and Skills Coach for Ice Hockey Australia, and has worked with players from both the Team China Men’s and Team Canada Women’s Olympic programmes.
Speaking following his appointment, Dutertre said:
“I’m really excited to get to Dundee. We want to deliver an entertaining product and have a hard-working, blue-collar team that is going to have effort every night and doing things to keep each other accountable. To me, that’s what it’s all about — accountability through ownership.
It’s not about me being a dictator; I’m working with the players. I have goals and tactics on how we’re going to play, but they’ll help me come up with that identity on how we’re going to get there. I have my ideas on it, but if I’m just dictating it, then it’s going to be hard to get the buy-in.
We get paid to push a piece of rubber around — we’re very lucky — so we need to make sure we put in the effort every night.”
On making the move to the Elite League, Dutertre said:
“I’ve had the opportunity over the years to come over to the Elite League as an Assistant Coach, but it would’ve been more of a lateral move if I did that, having been in the ECHL at the time. But having a head coaching opportunity with a team like Dundee — with such a rich history and passionate fans — I think that’s a really cool situation to be thrust into.”
Outlining the style of play he hopes to implement, he added:
“For me, it’s about pressure and possession. If we don’t have the puck, you’ve got to get it back as soon as possible, and if we have the puck, don’t give it away. If that means you’ve got to hold on to the puck along the wall and pick a fight, so be it, but it’s about having good puck support and controlling the middle of the ice as much as you can.”
Finally, Dutertre explained what a successful season in Dundee would look like:
“I don’t know where everyone is seeding us, but I think it’s a bit of an underdog opportunity for us to take advantage of. I think it’s important for us to have good recruiting, and for everyone to buy in to the culture. The history of the community too — there’s a lot of working-class grit — and that’s the type of game we need to bring.”
Fans can hear more from Scott in an exclusive interview on Stars TV, available now, with more exciting news to follow in the coming weeks.
