The Dundee Stars have signed defenceman Colin Joe ahead of the 2022-23 Elite League season.
The 34-year-old, who arrives in Dundee from the Kontinental Hockey League’s Kunlun Red Stars, is head coach-general manager Jeff Mason’s final signing of the summer.
“Colin was someone who I have known about for a few years and he was very interested in coming to Dundee,” the 41-year-old explained. “Obviously, when you can get a defenseman with his experience, especially on a team like ours where we are a bit younger, it certainly adds that veteran leadership on the backend with our younger d-men.
“He is someone who we will be able to lean on in all situations and is someone who I see as being a really big part of our team, next season.”
The 6-foot blueliner, who was born in Edmonton, Alberta, joins the Stars with a wealth of experience covering North America and Europe.
Before entering the professional ranks, Joe completed a decade of service in in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) – which has since been rebranded as USports.
He lifted the University Cup in his final season with the University of Alberta, recording 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) in 27 appearances as an associate captain.
In the years since, Joe has played professionally in the USA (ECHL), Hungary (MOL/Erste Liga), and Russia, albeit for a franchise based in China (VHL/KHL).
Related: Dundee Stars 2022-23 Roster: Signings, Quotes & More
In 2016-17, the left-shooting defenceman was an integral member of DVTK Jegesmedvék’s double championship-winning squad, recording 23 points (four goals, 19 assists) in 61 regular season appearances.
Mason continued: “We have a good mix of that across the roster this year, having guys who have won at different levels and that is important as you have to learn how to win and someone like Colin has that experience.
“He has been on winning teams and losing teams and those guys understand what it takes and that difference between teams that are successful and teams that are not, they are very important to the process.
“He was really excited to add into our mix, and he should provide real stability on the back end.”
Colin Joe: ‘I pride myself on playing a two-way game’
Joe, who won a gold medal for China at the Division 2A World Championship last season, added: “I have been eyeing a move to the UK for a couple years now. It was something that interested me a few years ago but I kept going back to Kunlun for that opportunity there, which was still appealing to me for the last couple years but I definitely had my eye on coming to the UK.
“A good friend of mine, Sean Ringrose played in Dundee, close to eight years ago now but he had great things to say and from talking to Jeff, I am really excited about joining the team and the organisation.”
Joe has made 833 regular season appearances throughout his career, producing 233 points (47 goals, 186 assists), and is Dundee’s final signing of the summer. He featured in 19 KHL games last term, playing a bottom-pair role for Kunlun.
“I pride myself on playing a two-way game, but as I have gotten older and hopefully wiser, I recognise that sometimes less is more and maybe trying to do too much can be a bit more of a detriment than you think,” Joe continued.
“At the same time, I like to play fast and I am a big fan of playing a transition game and I want to be up on the play.
“As a defenseman, whether you are playing offence with the puck or playing defence when you are pressed up against another team’s forwards, if you are able to keep a really good gap then that all goes into being how productive your team can be on the offensive side of the puck.”
Joe will wear the No. 27 jersey for Dundee.
How many points will Colin Joe register in the Elite League? Join the conversation by tweeting @BritIceHockey.
