Today in history: April 27

Today in History is a bit late due to a long day at the day job + a few Game 7s to watch tonight (one of which yours truly was more than slightly mildly interested in). So, a double-dose tonight.

On April 27:

1984: The final night in the Central Hockey League history, and it ends on the humble ice of the Carmel Ice Skadium. Because of the lack of ice at the Coliseum, the Checkers and CHL Oilers move the fourth game of their series to Carmel. Rob Holland returned to the nets for the Checkers, but it was too little, too late. In front of a jammed house of 1,000 fans, Grant Ledyard scores an unassisted goal 6:09 into the third to give the Oilers a 3-1 lead. Despite Red Laurence’s goal with 15 seconds left – hooking up with Checkers mainstay Garth MacGuigan for the tally – the Oil would clicnch a 3-2 victory and skate with the Adams Cup after a 4-game sweep. Laurence, the Checkers' leading scorer their final three years of existence and a perennial CHL star, tallied the final goal in old CHL history.  

2000: The Ice get off to a lead in the Miron Cup Finals against the Columbus Cottonmouths. Jamie Morris rips off his fifth straight strong start, and fifth straight victory in net. He allowed five goals total in that five-game streak. Ken Boone scores the game-winner in a 2-1 road victory. The Ice would go on to win the title in their first season in the "new" CHL in seven games.

2009: After a tremendous forechecking job forced a turnover, Max Cook scores with 4:08 remaining to give the Ice a lead they’d never relinquish in a 4-2 victory over Green Bay. It puts the Ice on the cusp of the Clark Cup Finals, as they lead the best-of-5 semifinal 2-1. Zach Golombiewski also scores twice for the Ice in the victory. 

Birthdays

George Harrison: No, not the Beatle. The center was an EHL/IHL mainstay in the 1950s who played 24 games and scored five goals for the Chiefs in their inaugural season, one in which they struggled mightily on the ice. At age 32 at the time, he was at the end of his career, and would play one more partial season for the EHL's Johnstown Jets before hanging up his skates. A native of Winnipeg, he was born in 1923.  

John Blessman: It seems every day we have an "original" Ice player, and Blessman is yet another player who skated for that inaugural and -- in a dubious way, legendary -- 1988-89 team. A defenseman, he played 31 games, scored two goals and tallied five assists for that squad. He split the season between Indy and the AHL's Utica Devils. He'd play professionally -- mostly in the ECHL -- for 10 more years after leaving Indy. A native of Agincourt, Ontario, he is 44 today.   

Yves Heroux: Totaled 28 goals and 30 assists for the Ice in 1993-94. He was the team's leading goal-scorer that year. He had just come off a run of four straight pro seasons of at least 30 goals -- all at the AHL/IHL level. A second-round pick of the Nordiques in 1983, he would play one game in the NHL with Quebec in 1986-87. His best season came when he tallied 43 goals for Flint in 1988-89. A native of Terrebonne, Quebec, he is 46 today.  

Kent Paynter: A defenseman who played 37 games for the Ice in 1997-98 -- the final year of a 13-year pro career that also included 37 NHL games with the Blackhawks, Capitals, Jets and Senators in several short stints between 1987-94. Paynter scored three goals, added seven assists and also had an assist in five playoff starts for the Ice that season. A native of Summerside, PEI, he is also 46 today. 

Jamie Carroll: Defenseman who played two games with the CHL Ice in 2002-03 out of UMass-Dartmouth. He played a total of 12 pro games with the Ice and teams in the Southeastern and Atlantic Coast Hockey Leagues. A native of Bridgewater, Mass., he is 32.