The Shelburne Stars were a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

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 based in Shelburne,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. They played in the

Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League The Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL) is a Canadian developmental junior ice hockey league. The league has primarily had teams in the Greater Toronto Area, Central Ontario, Northeastern Ontario, and Quebec. As of December 2019, the le ...

(GMHL). Established in 2010, the team was originally known as the Shelburne Red Wings. They are also commonly known as the Shelburne HTI Stars due to a sponsorship agreement.

History

The Red Wings were formed in 2010 by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n businessman Igor Vasilyev. The team was composed primarily of imported Russian hockey players. The Red Wings were the first junior hockey club in Shelburne since the Shelburne Wolves of the

Metro Junior A Hockey League The Metro Junior "A" Hockey League was a junior level ice hockey league based out of Southern Ontario. The league originated in 1956 as the Metro Junior "B" Hockey League, which lasted until 1991, when it changed its designation from Junior B to ...

and Ontario Provincial League. On September 11, 2010, the Red Wings played their first game, a road game in Thornhill versus the

Toronto Canada Moose The Toronto Blue Ice Jets were a junior ice hockey, Junior ice hockey team based out of Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. The team played in the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL). History The Jets were Thornhill's only Junior hockey team afte ...

. The Red Wings were victorious, 5–4. In December 2010, the Red Wings and the town of Shelburne became the centre of attention due to a pair of articles written by the

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

Robert Cribb Robert Cribb (7 January 1805 – 16 April 1893) was an Australian parliamentarian who represented the district of East Moreton in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and the districts of Town of Brisbane and East Moreton in the Queensl ...

. Cribb interviewed the coach

Jim Aldred James Aldred (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former player. He played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, and was drafted 59th overall in the 1981 NHL entry draft, 1981 National Hockey League entry draft by the B ...

, the players, the player's parents, and town residents to gain perspective on the team, the reaction of the town and

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

officials to the team. Aldred felt that the Russian players were tough on each other and needed strict guidance, and that he was privileged to coach them coming to Canada to "better themselves" despite his suspension by Hockey Canada for coaching in an unaffiliated league. The

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

Alumni Association contacted the team to ask how they may help these players. The Mayor of Shelburne, Ed Crewson, held a town meeting to discuss Hockey Canada's policies, which he has labelled, "...severe and draconian." In the autumn of 2011, the team decided to drop its exclusivity of Russian players, allowing players of all nationalities to participate in the Red Wings program. In 2014, the team was sold and changed its name to the Shelburne HTI Stars. The team went on a one-year hiatus to reorganize and is scheduled to return to the GMHL for the 2015–16 season. The Shelburne Sharks started operations under new ownership in 2015–16. The team's first Sharks captain was defenseman Storm Evans who played with the Red Wings in their last year of existence. After the 2015–16 season, a new ownership was announced again and the team reverted to the Shelburne Stars. However, when the 2016–17 GMHL season schedule was released, the Stars were longer listed as an active team.

Season-by-season standings

League award winners

Marshall Uretsky Award (MVP) * Alexander Nikulnikov (2010–11) Bob Bernstein Award (Top Scorer) * Stan Dzakhov (2010–11) Al Donnan Award (Best Goaltender) * Anton Kodykov (2012–13)

References

External links

Sharks WebpageGMHL website
{{GMHL 2010 establishments in Ontario 2016 disestablishments in Ontario Ice hockey clubs established in 2010 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2016 Defunct ice hockey teams in Ontario