But the Queenstown-based team had to be content with second place when the Canterbury Red Devils scored in the dying moments to win the 2009 final 5-4.
The Stampede should be among the frontrunners again this season.
The squad has a settled look and an experienced core of players who know what it takes to be successful in the league.
Coach Steve Rout has the luxury of leaning on experienced Ice Blacks trio Simon Glass, Brett Speirs and Braden Lee.
Glass is the leading scorer - goals and assists combined - while Speirs has put the puck in the net more than anyone else in the league's history with 55 goals to his name.
Lee and the likes of Bert Haines and imports Cles Lambridis (Greece), Canadian Joe Bjorkman and goal tender Matt Swirtz form a formidable spine.
"Barring two imports, we're pretty much a local team this year," Rout said.
"I hope we'll do well. We played every bit as well as Canterbury in the final last year but lost it in the last minute and a-half.
"It was a game that seesawed and could have gone either way. So we expect we'll do reasonably well this year."
New Zealand Under-21 player Ryan O'Keefe has had limited time on the ice but is expected to feature more this season, and forward Daniel Smith returns from a leg injury.
Also returning are defenceman Jesse Rout and fellow defender Loren Nowland, back after a two-year stint with the Red Devils.
"[Nowland] is one of those guys who help keep the team galvanised," Rout said.
Rout believes the Red Devils and the Botany Swarm will be the teams to beat but he is wary of the young upstart in Dunedin.
The Stampede opens its campaign against the Thunder with a double-header in Dunedin on Saturday and Sunday.
The Thunder has won just two games since entering the league in 2008, but has recruited well in the off-season.
"The Thunder will be a wildcard this year.
They've had a number of Canterbury players shift there and they've got a couple of French imports due to show up.
That will change the dynamics of their team hugely.
"They will give us a real run for our money this year, I think."
The tournament has adopted overtime this season, which will bring an end to annoying ties.
If the scores are level after regulation time, the teams will play for a further five minutes or until a goal is scored.
If no goal is scored in the overtime period, the game will be decided with ice hockey's version of a penalty shootout.
