The Columbus Stars were a minor professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team that was a brief member of the

United Hockey League The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the Unite ...

(UHL). The team folded before the midway point of 2003–04 season, in which the Stars had 21 home games drawing an average of only 973 people per game, 2,000 less than the UHL average. They played their home games at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum which had a capacity of 5,676. Despite leading the Eastern Conference of the UHL at the time of its demise, the team's final game had an attendance of only 732. The team folded on January 9, 2004. The team was owned by Joe Milano Jr, a local Columbus restaurateur. The stars gained attention after '' Rescue Me'' actor

Denis Leary Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Born in Massachusetts, he first came to prominence as a stand-up comedian, especially through appearances on MTV (including the comedic song " Asshole") and th ...

was offered a one-game contract to play with the team. He would have been paid the standard one-game salary for a UHL player ($300) and an undisclosed percentage of the ticket sales from the game would have been donated to his charity, Leary Firefighters Foundation.

Notable players

* Evan Cheverie * Craig Hillier * Scott Levins

References

2003 establishments in Ohio 2004 disestablishments in Ohio Defunct ice hockey teams in Ohio Defunct United Hockey League teams Ice hockey clubs established in 2003 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2004 Sports clubs and teams in Columbus, Ohio {{Ohio-sport-team-stub