The Dundee Stars has taken a punt, that few Elite League teams are willing to.

Namely, signing a young British goaltender.

The Stars have penned Lucas Brine to his first professional contract after spending the last eight years playing in North America.

It’s no surprise that the 20-year-old has piqued the interest of an EIHL team.

As I mentioned in this article posted last November https://wp.me/p2gDti-1s6 Brine has been turning heads in the USPHL, posting incredible numbers despite facing a heavy workload.

In an interview with his new club, the goaltender was unsure as to what direction to take his career before the chance to play in the UK arrived.

“I had just finished my season in America, playing junior hockey and I was weighing up my options for next year whether that was going down the college route or playing pro somewhere. The coach [Marc LeFebvre] gave me a phone call, it was a pretty good talk that we had and pretty quickly I knew what I wanted to do.”

“I am super excited, it has always been a dream of mine to play pro hockey and I am grateful that I can do it at home in the UK.”

“I am really thankful that the Stars have given me this opportunity and I cannot wait.”

Dundee Stars TV Interview

It’s difficult not to draw parallels with Ben Bowns, who was given the opportunity at around the same age by Hull Stingrays. Bowns’ path to the Elite was rather different but given the chance so few young British goaltenders are permitted, the Rotherham native thrived with the responsibility.

There is reason to believe that Dundee will give Brine a shot as a 1B next season behind a more experienced import.

Through the last two campaigns, the Stars iced Welsh netminder Brython Preece on thirty occasions despite posting very average numbers.

Marc LeFebvre: “Gone are the days of playing 60 straight games now in the Elite League like we used to see but now you need two strong goaltenders and you see that all over the world.”

“You need kind of a 1A and 1B, or a good tandem, to alleviate the pressure off of the starting goaltender, because you cannot have someone playing every single game and every single minute.”

“So, you need a capable backup that is going to come in and give you some quality minutes and a chance to win when the starter is not playing and we are very confident Lucas can do that.”

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