Dundee Stars captain Matt Marquardt reckons his side should have made the play-offs last season.
The 32-year-old returned for a second season and is also Omar Pacha’s assistant coach as the Scottish side look to get themselves back into the post season for the first time in three years.
And he revealed he was keen to return after the Stars finished tenth last season, but insists there was a foundation to build on despite their disappointment.
He told the Dundee Stars website: “We beat every team in the league and did a great job at home and on the road, which is something that I don’t think has happened here in a long time.
“You saw what happened last year and I think we deserve better. We should have made the playoffs. We deserved to make the playoffs but those things happen in hockey.
WATCH: Stars complete a four-point weekend over Clan
“For me, There was the opportunity to be a player-assistant coach of a team that wanted to turn things around and build a culture here whilst also establishing an identity as a team that is on the rise and one that is not going to get pushed around or is going to be satisfied with bad results.
“Then I had the opportunity to come back here and build off last season arose – it was a no brainer.
“I expressed my desire to be back this season and we were able to get that done in a quick fashion over the offseason.
Dundee have had the best possible start to the season, winning both games over Glasgow Clan in the Challenge Cup with Marquardt picking four points, courtesy of a goal and three assists.
And he spoke of being given the captaincy, taking over from Johan Andersson, but insists leadership is a team effort in the Stars locker room.
As well being player-assistant coach, Marquardt has been selected as Dundee’s captain this season (PHOTO: Derek Black)
He added: “It’s an honour. Anytime you get to be named captain or leader of team, especially with the group we have.
“They have put their trust in me to do the job but at the same time we have a lot of leadership here. We lead by committee and a lot of guys have been captains in the past.
“Going back to the games last week, we won and that’s the only thing matters.
“It doesn’t matter who’s captain – what matters is, we got the job done, we got our points and now we are looking forward to this weekend.”
