Former Dundee Stars forward, Jason Shmyr played over 100 games in a Stars jersey and is considered by many fans as a club legend and now 15 years after he left Tayside, Jason has spoken about his time as a Star.

By Kris Smith

Shmyr joined the club in 2003 from American Hockey League side, Manitoba Moose and was a Star for two seasons.

After an impressive first year in Dundee and showing his ability to be a team leader, he was appointed captain for the 2004-2005 campaign and helped lead the team to a playoff championship that season.

Firstly, Shmyr explained what he has been doing since he left Scotland nearly 15 years ago.

He said: “When I first left, I came back to my hometown and had a restaurant there for five years.

“I enjoyed that but then it became something I wanted to get out of, so for the last 10 years I have been doing the job, I am doing now.

“Which is as a controller for a company that deals with tax preparation for people and businesses and I have done some managing for the same company as well.

“I have some background in accounting with some of the schooling that I did, so helped.”

Jason also shared some of his memories from his time in Dundee and he said: “I have lots of great memories.

“Obviously the biggest one was winning the playoff championship that year but also being with my teammates, you become friends and you go through good times and bad times together.

“It is the same with the coaches and the fans, everyone is part of a journey every year and there are those ups and downs but with the team, the best memory is winning that championship and just meeting a lot of the guys on the team that year.

“I don’t get a lot of chances to talk to them a lot now but whenever we do, we can reminisce about the memories of that season and I have been back to Scotland to see some of the guys who actually live in Scotland and hang out with them for a bit, it is always good to see them.”

 

 

As mentioned above, his favourite moment in a Stars jersey is winning the 2004-2005 playoff championship but the Fairview, Alberta native shared a bit more on why that it is.

Jason added: “To go deeper into that, my real favourite part would be feeling the relief of winning.

“Your goal at the start of the year is to win that championship and when you actually win that, there is just a big release and you get to celebrate.

“I remember one of the fans handed me a yellow Scotland flag and I don’t think that came off me for the maybe two days, it just became a part of me.

“You are just enjoying that moment in the dressing room with all your teammates and enjoying all the hard work you put in that year and then on the bus ride home, I still had that flag wrapped around me and I still had it even when we got home and were celebrating with the fans too.

“All of that is kind of surreal after you put in all that hard work over the course of the season and you don’t really recognise what it is going to look like when it is done but when it is done then you can have a great celebration.”

The Canadian winger also discussed more about what brought him to Dundee in 2003 and added to the story that his former teammate, Mark Thompson told last week.

“I was not really sure about what I was going to do for the next hockey season, it was actually Mark Thompson, who I played with in Dundee in my first year”, said Shmyr.

He continued: “I had played with him the year before in Augusta and he said he had signed with Dundee and he was talking with me and telling me I should look into that.

“So, I looked around the British league and it looked like it was a good opportunity and it was nice to go over with somebody I knew.

“It was all set up nice and comfortably for me to come over and be with someone I knew.”

Also, Jason was asked what it was like to be the captain that led the team to their playoff success in his final year with the club.

He replied: “It was good, it’s a little bit of a different role when you are trying to lead the team.

“Everybody has a part in that but yeah it was a fun and a great learning experience for me.

“Trying to help the team move through ups and downs was a good challenge but of course, to win in the end and see it all work out as you hoped it would, that is obviously amazing.

“It was an easy team to help lead as everybody was like a family there and we all helped each other and it made it easier to do that part, then celebrating our success with our big Stars family was very enjoyable.”

Finally, Jason had a message to send to all the Stars fans back in Dundee and he said: “I just really want to thank everyone for their support and allowing me to have the great time that I did there, in my two seasons in Dundee.

“I had an amazing time over there and that’s all part of the community in Dundee – the players, the team, just everybody is part of that and the fans were just amazing.

“Everybody was so supportive through our ups and downs and they were with us, they rode the roller-coaster with us all season long and then they were able to celebrate with us at the end.

“The fans were also great because they were always approachable and easy to talk to, they made my time in a different culture, very easy.

“So, I am really appreciative of all the fans there and hopefully they get to keep enjoying the roller-coaster ride of the teams that have been there and are still to come.”

 

 

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]

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