Today in history: April 16

Today in Indianapolis hockey history: Lots of great playoff victories.

1977: Michel Dion plays his first playoff game in net in relief of Paul Hoganson, and the Racers beat Cincinnati 3-1 to finish off a four-game sweep of the Stingers. It is the club's only postseaon series victory.  

1980: Having won their opening-round series, the Checkers open the CHL semis against Fort Worth. Garth MacGuigan scores a shorthanded goal with 23 seconds left to send the game to OT. Ed Pizunski then converts a feed from Mike Hordy to beat Michel Plasse and win it 2:18 into OT. Fort Worth would win the best-of-5 series in five games. 

1986: The Checkers rally from a 4-1 third-period deficit with goals by Earl Ingarfield, Monty Trottier and current Ice coach Charlie Skjodt in a 5:07 span to tie the game, and then Skjodt fed Bob Lakso for the game-winner 4:41 into OT, giving the Checkers a 5-4 victory over Muskegon in their first-round IHL series opener. Muskegon would sweep the next four games to win the series.

2000: Yvan Corbin strikes again, scoring in OT to give the Ice a 2-1 victory and a 2-0 lead in their best-of-5 semifinal series against Oklahoma City. Jamie Morris makes 49 saves in net in a stellar goaltending performance. The Ice would sweep the series and win the Miron Cup in their first CHL season.  

2010: Alex Wideman scores 8:57 into the third to give the Ice a 2-1 victory over Green Bay. Casey DeSmith makes 29 saves – including 17 in the third – to make it stand up. The powerful Gamblers win the next three games to clinch the series, and go on to win the Clark Cup. 

 

Birthdays

Mike Zuke: Center who played 15 games with the Racers after graduating from Michigan Tech, scoring three goals in 1976-77. He would score 23 goals the following year for the Edmonton Oilers, and also play parts of eight NHL seasons with the Blues and Whalers. All told, he played 539 NHL/WHA games, scoring 112 goals and 234 assists. Zuke is the last player in the alphabet to play for an Indianapolis hockey team. A native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, he is 57.

Andy MacIntyre: "Andy Mac" was a forward who played parts of four seasons with the IHL Ice from 1994-98, splitting time with the Ice's ECHL affiliate each year. He totaled 128 games, 24 goals -- 11 of them in 1997-98 -- and 28 assists. A native of Thunder Bay, Ontario, he is 37 today.

Jared DeMichiel: Ice goaltender who played one game in 2005-06, allowing four goals in a loss. He went on to play four years with the Rochester Institute of Technology, and has played in 2010-11 for two ECHL teams and the AHL Hershey Bears. A native of Avon, CT, he is 26.