Quick Facts
Biography
Robert Starke (born 25 March 1977) is a Canadian-Australian ice hockey player currently playing for the Newcastle North Stars in the Australian Ice Hockey League and is a former member of the Australian national ice hockey team.
Playing career
Robert Starke first played ice hockey for Bowdoin College of the NCAA Division III in 1996. He continued to play for Bowdoin until the end of the 1999–00 season. In the 2000–01 season Starke joined the Missouri River Otters of the United Hockey League where he played 52 games and scored seven goals. The following season Starke moved to Yugoslavia to play for HK Vojvodina of the IEL and Yugoslavian League. Starke continued to play for HK Vojvodina in the 2002–03 season but nine games in moved to the Netherlands to play for Heerenveen Flyers of the Eredivisie. After his season with the Flyers Starke moved back to Canada to play for the Verdun Dragons of the Quebec Semi-Pro Hockey League.
After the completion of the 2003–04 for the Dragons Starke moved to Australia to play for the Newcastle North Stars of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). For the 2004–05 season Stark returned to play for the Flyers in Netherlands before returning to Australia for the 2004 AIHL season with the North Stars. In 2010 Starke was named captain for the North Stars. The following season, due a shift in team leadership Starke vacated the captaincy and was named one of the teams alternate captains.
Starke was first called up to represent Australia in 2008 where he joined the national senior team to compete in the 2008 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B tournament being held in Newcastle, Australia. Australia won the tournament and gained promotion to Division I for the following year while Starke recorded one assist and finished with a plus/minus of +3. The following year at the Division I Group A tournament in Lithuania Australian finished last and were relegated back to Division II while Starke finished with two points and a plus/minus of –18. In 2010 Starke received his third call-up to the national senior team to play in the 2010 IIHF World Championship Division II Group A tournament being held in Mexico City, Mexico. Starke recorded one assist for the tournament and finished with a plus/minus of –1 while Australia finished in second place for the tournament.
Coaching career
Starke started his coaching career in 2007 when he was appointed as the head coach of the Australia men's national under-18 ice hockey team. Under Starke the team competed at the 2007 IIHF World U18 Championship Division II Group B tournament being held in Miercurea-Ciuc, Romania where the team finished in fifth place. The following year Starke was replaced as head coach by Pier-Alexandre Martin.
Personal life
Starke was born on 25 March 1977 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Legal Studies and currently works for Wilson & Co Lawyers.
Career statistics
- Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1996–97 | Bowdoin College | NCAA III | 24 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Bowdoin College | NCAA III | 25 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Bowdoin College | NCAA III | 24 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Bowdoin College | NCAA III | 24 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Missouri River Otters | UHL | 52 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 122 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | HK Vojvodina | IEL | 10 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 37 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 2001–02 | HK Vojvodina | Yugoslavian League | 19 | 9 | 25 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2002–03 | HK Vojvodina | IEL | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Heerenveen Flyers | Eredivisie | 24 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2003–04 | Verdun Dragons | QSPHL | 25 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 62 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004 | Newcastle North Stars | AIHL | 18 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 56 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Heerenveen Flyers | Eredivisie | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 2005 | Newcastle North Stars | AIHL | 27 | 9 | 31 | 40 | 86 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006 | Newcastle North Stars | AIHL | 26 | 8 | 24 | 32 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007 | Newcastle North Stars | AIHL | 26 | 7 | 28 | 35 | 65 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008 | Newcastle North Stars | AIHL | 26 | 5 | 28 | 33 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2009 | Newcastle North Stars | AIHL | 20 | 5 | 24 | 29 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2010 | Newcastle North Stars | AIHL | 25 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011 | Newcastle North Stars | AIHL | 27 | 3 | 26 | 29 | 35 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
- International
| Year | Team | Competition | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Australia | 2008 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2009 | Australia | 2009 IIHF World Championship Division I Group A | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| 2010 | Australia | 2010 IIHF World Championship Division II Group A | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| Team Australia Totals | 15 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 16 | |||