Two more added to Stars' blue line

Photo: Terry Wilson / OHL Images and Utah Grizzlies/ECHL

Dundee Stars' roster for the 2023/24 season was boosted over the weekend with the addition of two more new faces for the upcoming campaign.

Defensemen Sean Allen, and Kyle Pouncy became the Stars' 18th and 19th signings of the off-season respectively.

Allen, a 25-year-old Canadian, has spent the last four seasons in the ECHL, clocking up some 217 games scoring 29 points and racking up 577 penalty minutes. He turned pro after spending four seasons in the OHL.

"He is exactly what we have been looking for in a defenseman; big, physical and mean," began Head Coach Marc LeFebvre. "He also moves the puck well, stands up for his teammates and is a great character off the ice as well, so he has a lot of intangibles that we have been looking for and we are excited to have in him in Dundee.

"If you look at his numbers in Cincinnati last year, he obviously improved offensively and his plus-minus was a +28. Cincinnati had a very good team last year and their coaching staff thought that much of Sean that they played him in a lot of key situations, so we are looking for the same thing this season.

"We have stressed patience since day one and we have done that, and now we definitely have the right people and the right guy here in Sean and we are looking forward to having him."

28-year-old Pouncy, also Canadian, heads to Dundee after two fulls seasons in the ECHL with Utah, notching 17 points over 11 games. He previously played in the NCAA III with Northland College before having spells in Wichita (ECHL, Carolina (FPHL) and Knoxville (SPHL).

"Kyle is a big right-hand defenseman, who skates very well and his game is going to be a great fit for the Olympic ice sheet, we are excited to have him. He completes our defense and everything we are looking for right now as he has size, can move the puck well, skates well and he is going to be a great addition to our club," explained LeFebvre.

"We wanted to build a team with experience, so we did not go with a young team this season and I do not think our league is built for that and we wanted some guys with experience, especially on our back end and he definitely fills that void. We wanted a defensive core that is going to be hard to play against, so guys with some size, who can move the puck up the ice to our forwards, skate with the puck and bring it out of our zone, so just guys who play a simple hockey game and that is what we have here."