Iowa Stars

Iowa Stars
City	Des Moines, Iowa
League	American Hockey League
Operated	2005–2009
Home arena	Wells Fargo Arena
Colors	Black, crimson, grey, white
Affiliates	Dallas Stars (2005–2008) Anaheim Ducks (2008–2009)
Franchise history
1999–2001	Louisville Panthers
2005–2008	Iowa Stars
2008–2009	Iowa Chops
2009–present	Texas Stars

The Iowa Stars, later known as the Iowa Chops, were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. The club was based in Des Moines, Iowa at the Wells Fargo Arena.

History

Iowa Chops logo

The Stars were founded by Howard Baldwin, of Hockey Holdings & Management Group, and Dallas businessman Bob Schlegel, who took the dormant Louisville Panthers AHL franchise and resurrected it for the 2005–06 season as the Iowa Stars (the same name as an earlier team in 1969-70 in the Central Hockey League). They had a five-year affiliation agreement with the Dallas Stars and a one-year agreement with the Edmonton Oilers.

In their inaugural season, the Stars made it to the Calder Cup playoffs first round, where they were defeated by the Milwaukee Admirals. The Stars won their first playoff series the following season, defeating the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights in six games.

In February 2008, the Dallas Stars announced they would be affiliating with the future Texas Stars pending the 2009 completion of the Cedar Park Entertainment Center in Cedar Park, Texas. After the 2007-08 season the Dallas Stars left the Iowa scene, and the Anaheim Ducks announced an affiliation with the team.

On July 9, 2008, the team unveiled its new name and logo, featuring a "vicious boar’s head in the team colors of crimson, grey and black".^[1]

Portland Pirates assistant Gord Dineen was named head coach of the Iowa Chops on August 19, 2008.

On May 9, 2009, the Anaheim Ducks dropped their affiliation with the Iowa Chops, leaving Iowa to look for their third NHL affiliate in four seasons.^[2]

On July 7, 2009, the Iowa Chops franchise was suspended by the AHL's board of governors for the 2009-10 AHL season for being "unable to remedy certain violations of the provisions of the league’s Constitution and By-Laws."^[3] While the AHL declined further comment on the reasons for the suspension, the Des Moines Register reported in June, 2009, that the Chops had violated league rules by pledging the team as collateral for a $1.99 million loan from Wachovia. The Register also reported that the Ducks had dropped their affiliation with the Chops after the Chops missed payments on their affiliation contract.^[4]

After several months of speculation as to their future, the AHL announced on May 4, 2010, that the Texas Stars had acquired the Chops franchise.^[5] This transaction finalized the Stars' contractual obligation to acquire a permanent franchise in the league, as they operated in 2009–10 as an expansion team under a provisional agreement to obtain an existing franchise license.

Season-by-season results

Regular season

Season	Games	Won	Lost	OTL	SOL	Points	Goals for	Goals against	Standing
2005–06	80	41	31	1	7	90	238	228	4th, West
2006–07	80	42	34	3	1	88	221	231	4th, West
2007–08	80	35	37	5	3	78	217	255	8th, West
2008–09	80	33	33	4	10	80	209	260	7th, West

Playoffs

Season	1st round	2nd round	3rd round	Finals
2005–06	L, 3–4, Milwaukee	—	—	—
2006–07	W, 4–2, Omaha	L, 2–4, Chicago	—	—
2007–08	Did not qualify.
2008–09	Did not qualify.

Team records

Single game

Goals: 4 Vojtech Polak (2006–07)

Penalty Minutes: 32 David Berube (2005–06)

Single season

Goals: 35 Loui Eriksson (2005–06)

Assists: 47 Toby Petersen (2005–06)

Points: 73 Toby Petersen (2005–06)

Penalty Minutes: 189 Brennan Evans (2008–09)

GAA: 2.5 Mike Smith (2005–06)

SV%: .917 Mike Smith (2005–06)

Career

Career Goals: 49 Toby Petersen (2005–08)

Career Assists: 83 Toby Petersen (2005–08)

Career Points: 132 Toby Petersen (2005–08)

Career Penalty Minutes: 189 Brennan Evans (2008–09)

Career Goaltending Wins: 25 Mike Smith (2005–06)

Career Shutouts: 3 Mike Smith (2005–06)

Career Games: 132 Yared Hagos (2005–07)

Affiliates

• Edmonton Oilers (2005-2006)
• Dallas Stars (2005-2008)
• Anaheim Ducks (2008-2009)

References

1. "It is Official! AHL Hockey Team is: IOWA CHOPS". IowaChops.com. Archived from the original on 2008-07-14. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
2. "Anaheim Ducks end affiliation with Iowa Chops". dmregister.com. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
3. "Chops franchise in suspension for 2009-10 season" AHL Press Release July 7, 2009
4. "League suspends Iowa Chops from playing in 2009-10 season" The Des Moines Register, July 7, 2009
5. "AHL approves franchise sale to Hicks Cedar Park" TheAHL.com, May 4, 2010

External links

• Official website