By Kris Smith
Konkle was brought in by then Head Coach, Dan Ceman for the 2011-2012 Elite League campaign and the then 29-year-old was a proven point producer.
The winger from Toronto, Ontario came to Dundee with lots of experience of the North American Leagues such as the East Coast Hockey League and American Hockey League but also a brief experience of the Serbian leagues.
Firstly, Jarrett began by explaining what he has been doing since leaving Dundee back in 2012.
He said: “Since leaving Dundee, I went back to school and got my MBA (Master of Business Administration Degree) from Clarkson University in upstate New York.
“After that, I started my own financial planning practice in Toronto and have continued to grow my book over of business over the past six years.
“I then got married in 2018 and have since had a daughter who’s now just over a year old.”
Despite only staying in the Elite League and Dundee for only a year, Konkle made many memories during his time as a Star.
He added: “A lot of my best memories are from times spent with the guys on the team.
“We had a great group and the bus rides, pre-game and practice banter was always entertaining.
“A couple nice wins over the top teams and rivals (Nottingham, Cardiff and Fife) also stick out!
“I think one of my best memories would’ve been scoring a hat trick in a big home win around Christmas time against Nottingham.”
The Canadian also shared more about how he ended up moving to the UK and signing with the Stars and Jarrett revealed: “I chose Dundee because they had shown interest and pursued me in years previous, so when it was finally time I decided to play overseas,
“The Stars were one of the teams I first reached out to and I also knew Brennan Turner from our time in Fresno and we had chatted before going over.”
As he was a seasoned veteran of the North American leagues, Konkle was asked to measure how the Elite League compared to its counterparts across the Atlantic, such as the ECHL.
He replied: “When I played in the Elite League, it was a pretty strong league in terms of the competition in comparison to the US/rest of Europe.
“It seems to have only gotten better as the years have gone on, as evidenced by the GB team and their recent rises and success.”
Finally, Jarrett shared a message for all the Stars fans back in Dundee and he said: “Firstly, I would like to say a heartfelt hello to all of the stars faithful.
“Though I was only there for one year, I still to this day, tell people that was one of my favourite years of playing professional hockey.
“It is such a great fan base in Dundee and thank you for the memories!”
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]
