Lincoln Stars

With prompting of Lincoln realtor Mark Claydon, who spear-headed an effort to build the city's first and only indoor ice arena, the Stars came to Lincoln in 1996. Led by Derek Reynolds and future NHL player Josh Langfeld, the Stars posted a 40–13–1 regular season record, the best expansion season in USHL history. The Stars continued their domination through the playoffs, losing just two playoff games en route to winning the Clark Cup. Every game was sold out at the 4,231-seat Ice Box. The success continued through the following seasons; the Stars sold out every home game until early 2002. In 1998, the Ice Box was expanded to 5,010 seats in preparation for the USA Hockey National Championships (Junior A). The capacity was later reduced to 4,610, as some bleacher seats were converted to club seating.

The Stars made the playoffs their first seven seasons and won a second Clark Cup in 2003. Led by players such as Danny Irmen, the Stars defeated the rival Omaha Lancers in the Clark Cup finals. After the 2003 championship, they missed the playoffs for the first time and attendance started to steadily decrease.[1] From the 2003–04 to 2012–13 seasons, the team qualified for the playoffs eight times and advanced past the second round once.[2]

In 2013, the Stars were sold to Chicago-based businessman Ryan Schiff.[3] The team failed to make the playoffs seven out of the next nine completed seasons; the 2019–20 USHL season was curtailed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

On June 3, 2021, it was announced the team had been sold to Alberto Fernandez, the owner of both the North American Hockey League's North Iowa Bulls, a franchise that he had owned as the Amarillo Bulls since 2019, and the North American 3 Hockey League's Mason City Toros, a team that used to be called the North Iowa Bulls and had won the league championship four times.[4] Fernandez then brought over the Amarillo Bulls head coach, Rocky Russo, to be the head coach for the Stars.[5]

• Steve Johnson (1996–2007)
• Jim McGroarty (2007–2010, 2013–2014)
• Chad Johnson (2010–2013)
• Mick Berge (interim, 2014)
• Chris Hartsburg (2014–2017)
• Cody Chupp (2017–2020)
• Chris Michael (2020–2021)[6]
• Rocky Russo (2021–present)

Notable Stars alumni includes Brandon Bochenski (Tampa Bay Lightning), Andy Schneider (Pittsburgh Penguins organization), David Backes (Boston Bruins), Josh Langfeld (San Jose Sharks), Jared Boll (Columbus Blue Jackets), Evan Rankin (Syracuse Crunch), Erik Condra (Ottawa Senators) and Brandon Bollig (Chicago Blackhawks - NHL Stanley Cup Champions).

Lincoln players have also made names for themselves in the NCAA Championship Game. Three former Stars have scored championship-winning overtime goals: Josh Langfeld (University of Michigan—1998 vs. Boston College), Grant Potulny (University of Minnesota—2002 vs. University of Maine) and Colby Cohen (Boston University—2009 vs. Miami University).

As of September 21, 2022.[7]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	College commitment
2		Adam Kleber	D	6' 3"	201 lb	2006-03-24	Chaska, Minnesota	Chaska (USHS–MN)	Minnesota Duluth
3		James Jurcev	D	6' 5"	185 lb	2003-05-05	Palos Heights, Illinois	New Mexico (NAHL)	None
4		Boston Buckberger	D	5' 11"	172 lb	2003-06-01	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	Brooks (AJHL)	Wisconsin
5		Jack Sparkes	D	6' 7"	227 lb	2003-10-20	Ottawa, Ontario	St. Michael's (OJHL)	Michigan State
6		Carter Davis	D	6' 0"	165 lb	2005-04-30	Elk River, Minnesota	Elk River (USHS–MN)	None
7		D. J. Hart	D	6' 3"	190 lb	2002-02-23	Stamford, Connecticut	Madison (USHL)	Ohio State
8		Marián Moško	D	5' 11"	174 lb	2004-05-01	Žilina, Slovakia	Selects Academy U18 (Midget AAA)	Cornell
9		Patrick Raftery	F	5' 11"	167 lb	2004-02-26	Centennial, Colorado	Colorado Thunderbirds U18 (Midget AAA)	Maine
10		Keaton Peters	F	5' 10"	185 lb	2004-03-01	Sussex, Wisconsin	Janesville (NAHL)	Northern Michigan
11		Tanner Ludtke	F	6' 0"	170 lb	2004-11-27	Elko, Minnesota	Lakeville South (USHS–MN)	Omaha
13		Cole Crusberg-Roseen	D	5' 11"	170 lb	2002-04-14	Stratham, New Hampshire	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	UMass
14		Hagen Moe	F	6' 0"	183 lb	2003-05-20	Elk River, Minnesota	Springfield (NAHL)	Bowling Green
15		Antonio Fernandez	D	5' 9"	174 lb	2003-10-11	San Jose, California	Amarillo (NAHL)	Princeton
16		Jack Larrigan	F	5' 10"	161 lb	2004-04-09	St. Louis, Missouri	Janesville (NAHL)	Notre Dame
18		Brennan Ali	F	6' 0"	194 lb	2004-02-09	Glencoe, Illinois	Avon Old Farms (USHS–CT)	Notre Dame
19		Doug Grimes	F	6' 3"	201 lb	2002-04-18	Brookline, Massachusetts	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	Boston University
21		Wyatt Olson	F	6' 1"	185 lb	2005-05-24	Maple Grove, Minnesota	Sioux Falls Power U18 (Midget AAA)	Denver
22		Mason Marcellus	F	5' 9"	165 lb	2002-07-19	Greely, Ontario	Drayton Valley (AJHL)	Quinnipiac
23		Michael Mesic	F	5' 11"	165 lb	2004-08-15	Plymouth, Michigan	North Iowa (NAHL)	Northern Michigan
26		Jared Mangan	F	5' 11"	161 lb	2003-04-08	Charleston, South Carolina	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	None
27		Klāvs Veinbergs	F	6' 3"	198 lb	2003-03-27	Riga, Latvia	Riga (MHL)	None
28		Daniel Sambuco	F	6' 0"	190 lb	2003-06-10	Springfield, Pennsylvania	Waterloo (USHL)	Providence
30		Lucas Massie	G	6' 1"	176 lb	2003-04-11	Claremont, California	Blackfalds (AJHL)	None
39		Cameron Whitehead	G	6' 3"	172 lb	2003-06-13	Orleans, Ontario	Utica (NCDC)	Northeastern

• Lincoln Stars