By Kris Smith
The Dundonian played the first six years of his career in his hometown, splitting those years between the Stars, the Tigers and the Comets.
During his time with the Stars, Barry made 35 appearances and was a part of the team that lifted the Scottish Cup and Autumn Cup in the 2007-2008 season.
Firstly, Carnegie started by explaining what he has been doing since leaving the Stars in 2009.
He began: “In hockey it has been a rollercoaster since I played with the Stars.
“I coached Dundee Comets along with Grant Reekie and we achieved two successive clean sweeps in the Scottish National League.
“I was also bench coach with the Stars in the Elite League and finished playing at Aberdeen Lynx, where we won the SNL playoffs in my final game.
“That was back in 2016 and since then I’ve become a coaching instructor and Assistant Head Coach with Scottish Ice Hockey and a Video Coach for GB Under 18’s & Under 20 men’s teams, all alongside coaching juniors in Aberdeen.
“I always want to experience different things in hockey, it’s my hobby and I want to try new roles and challenges all the time.”
The Scot made many memories when playing with the Stars and Barry remembers a lot of memorable characters from the Stars teams he played on.
He said: “I remember the characters in both seasons I played.
“The Fife guys, a few of whom I used to watch when I was a kid and the Dundee guys who I knew from around the rink such as JD (John Dolan), Allan Hamilton, Matty Michie and Sam McCluskey.
“Of course, Roger Hunt, who I learned so much from, he managed to keep fringe guys engaged and motivated and part of the group.
“You just have to look at what he has achieved since leaving to realise how spoilt we were to have him for so long.
“On the coaching side I got to work with Dan Ceman, Brent Hughes, Jeff Hutchins and AJ Maclean and I like to think I took a little something from each of them in my own coaching.
“There was even a game in Hull where we had about 12 players, Hutchy was in Canada I think and I was on the bench on my own!
“I look back now and think I would do a much better job now than I did then, AJ and Wish helped a lot that day!
“I just stood and shouted change every now and then, pretty sure nobody listened haha!!”
However, his favourite moments in a Stars shirt was on the ice and there is one that not many people will recall.
Barry explained: “I am sure nobody else remembers but I played on the top line in one game against Billingham at home.
“I scored two goals and got one assist in the first period and I remember John Haig telling me it would not be that easy all the time.
“He was so right, by the third period I was back on the 3rd line!
“I also scored a goal at a packed Fife Ice Arena to put us 1-0 up and I used to watch Fife before the DIA opened, so that meant a lot personally.
“Then we got pumped about 12-2!!!
“Finally, winning the Scottish Cup in Fife against Solway, I still have the pictures with my daughter and the cup on the ice.”
Carnegie was involved with the club when they were competing in the Scottish hockey leagues, such as the Northern League and Scottish Premier League and he shared more about the fun experience of playing for a big club like Dundee during that time.
“The famous Celtic League was a lot of fun, particularly the trips to Dundalk”, added Barry.
He continued: “I’m sure I even drove the kit van one trip with Roger and Tam Phillips as co-pilots.
“We played a team of Latvians and about 10 minutes before face off 400 drunk Eastern European’s took over the rink and almost started a riot!
“They threw stuff on the away bench including a shovel and plenty spit!”
The now 39-year-old was also a number of British players who held down another job as well as playing ice hockey and that involved a lot of hard work and dedication to keep up with both.
Barry said: “The Monday mornings going to work after being away in England was always a challenge.
“It is definitely a young man’s game and it is difficult with a young family at home.
“When I was Bench Coach the first season I tried to go on the road trips and experience all the Elite Arenas, so I bunked off work a few times to catch the bus to Nottingham on a random Thursday, just to get abuse from their fans behind the bench!
“The second season I only really did home games which suited work/family life.”
Finally, Carnegie shared a message for all the Stars fans and he said: “For 20 years the Ward family have given you hockey at the highest level available to them.
“Regardless of whether Stars have the smallest budget or not, we should be grateful for having hockey to watch every weekend.
“Thank you for the memories, I still see myself as part of the DIA community and hopefully we all get to a game soon as we get back to ‘normal.
“Cheers, Barry.”
That concludes our series of ‘Look Back’ articles on the eighth Dundee Stars season but there is plenty more still to come, as next week we take you back to the 2009-2010 season.
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]
