The Columbus Stars were a minor league

Minor league

Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in...

 professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 team that folded before the midway point of their inaugural season, of 2004, in the United Hockey League due to economic problems. The Stars had 21 home games, which drew only an average of 973 people per game, the lowest of all minor pro ice hockey teams, and was 2,000 less than the UHL average. The Ohio Expo Center Coliseum

Ohio Expo Center Coliseum

The Ohio Expo Center Coliseum is a 7,000-seat multi-purpose arena located at the Ohio Expo Center and State Fairground in Columbus, Ohio. It was built in 1918. Nicknamed "The Barn," the Coliseum has become a legendary and traditional High School Basketball venue. It continues to be home to the...

 which they played in had a capacity of 5,676. Despite leading the Eastern Conference of the UHL at the time of its demise the team's final game had an attendance of only 732.

The team was owned by Joe Milano Jr, who also ran a restaurant. Denis Leary

Denis Leary

Denis Colin Leary is an Irish-American actor, comedian, writer and director. Leary is known for his biting, fast paced comedic style and chain smoking...

 was reportedly offered a one game contract to play with the Columbus Stars. He would have been paid the standard one game salary for a player ($300) and an undisclosed percentage of the ticket sales from the game would have been donated to his charity, Leary Firefighters Foundation

Leary Firefighters Foundation

The Leary Firefighters Foundation provides funding and equipment to fire departments throughout the United States.On December 3, 1999, six firefighters in Worcester, Massachusetts were killed in the Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire, a massive fire set by squatters...

.

Columbus Stars players included:

• Evan Cheverie
  Evan Cheverie
  Evan Cheverie is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for Lillehammer IK of the GET-ligaen in Norway.-Playing career:...
  
  
• Craig Hillier
  Craig Hillier
  Craig Hillier is a former professional ice hockey goaltender. He was drafted in the first round, 23rd overall, by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.-Career:...
  
  
• Scott Levins
  Scott Levins
  Scott M. Levins is an American former professional ice hockey player.-Playing career:...