I apologize for not keeping this up-to-date. Life intervened this week, but we'll catch up. We'll also be catching back up with our countdown of the 10 greatest playoff games in Indianapolis hockey history.
Birthday posts for the five-day span that we're catching up:
May 17
Carl Liscombe: One of the initial Capitals, playing 43 games for the Caps as he split time between Indy and Detroit between 1939-41. He scored 12 goals in an Indianapolis uniform, and also two goals in the 1940 Calder Cup playoffs. He would play 373 games with the Red Wings from 1935-46, winning the Stanley Cup in 1943. He scored 36 goals the next season. In 1947-48, he went back to the AHL and had a 50-goal, 118-point season with the Providence Reds, setting all of the league scoring records and becoming the first pro hockey player to break the 100-point barrier. He was the AHL's MVP in 1948 and 1949. A native of Perth, Ontario, he was born in 1915. He passed away in 2004.
Claude Larose: Left wing who played 41 games for the Racers between 1977 and the franchise's folding in December 1978. He totaled 19 goals and 24 assists in that time span. He was the #1 pick in the WHA draft in 1975 by the Cincinnati Stingers, and totaled a 30-goal season in 1976-77. After his WHA tenure, he spent much of the next eight seasons in the AHL, but did play 25 games with the New York Rangers. He scored 92 goals in 277 WHA/NHL games. A native of St. Jean, Quebec, he is 61.
Dan Gauthier: Center who played two full seasons for the Ice between 1994-96. In 136 games, he totaled 50 goals and 89 assists before being traded to the St. Louis Blues late in the 1995-96 season, where he would finish the year with the Peoria Rivermen. He also had five NHL games with Chicago in 1994-95. Following the 1996 season, he went to Europe, and played 12 seasons in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. He was active in Quebec senior leagues through 2010, scoring 57 points as a 39-year-old in 2009-10. A native of Charlemagne, Quebec, he is 41.
Mike Prokopec: Right wing who played three full seasons for the Ice from 1994-97. He played 194 games for the Ice, totaling 52 goals and 52 assists and 354 PIMs. He also played 15 games for the Blackhawks from 1995-97. He continued to play -- primarily in the IHL -- through 2000, when he had a 23-goal season with the Manitoba Moose. A native of Toronto, he is 37.
Brian Keane: Forward who played 15 games for the Ice in 2006-07, totaling five goals and two assists. He just finished an NCAA career at UMass-Amherst, where he totaled 18 points in four years. A native of Shortsville, NY, he is 23.
May 18
Ryan Leasa: A junior amateur signee who played in the 2003 CHL Playoffs for the Ice. The defenseman played two minor pro seasons in the ECHL and CHL for Toledo and Austin, respectively, before playing a year of senior hockey in Ontario. A native of Sarnia, Ontario, he is 21.
May 19
Bob Hess: Veteran defenseman who joined the Checkers in 1983-84 at the end of a long hockey career. He had two goals and eight assists in nine regular season games, and then had a 2-4-6 line in nine playoff games for the Checkers as they advanced to the Adams Cup Finals that year. He played 329 NHL games for the Blues, Sabres and Whalers between 1974-84. He was the 26th overall pick in the 1974 NHL draft. A native of Edmonton, he is 56.
Bob Laforest: Winger who played for the Checkers' first IHL entry in 1984-85, totaling a 3-6-9 line in 18 games. He played five NHL games with the Kings in 1983-84. A native of Welland, Ontario, he is 48.
Tom Stewart: Winger who scored five goals and had seven assists for the Ice in 1999-2000. He would be dealt to Macon during the year, but was someone who appeared in 24 games for the eventual Miron Cup champions. He continued to play through 2003, and then began coaching, primarily in the Southern Professional Hockey League. A native of Brantford, Ontario, he is 36.
May 20
Bruce Cassidy: "Butch" was a popular member of the Ice who spent three stints in Indy, playing a key role as a defenseman for the Ice's Turner Cup championship team in 1989-90, totaling 11 goals and 46 assists from the blueline. He also had a 1-10-11 line in the playoffs. After three seasons in Europe, he returned to the Ice in 1994 and played three more years with the Ice. In 170 games, he totaled 18 goals and 79 assists. He left the team early in the 1996-97 season to begin coaching the Jacksonville Lizard Kings of the ECHL. He then joined the Ice as their head coach in 1998-99, leading them to a 33-37-12 record and an appearance in the second round of the IHL Playoffs. Cassidy became the Washington Capitals' coach in 2002, and coached the team for a year and a half. He was the AHL's Coach of the Year with Grand Rapids in 2002. After the lockout, he was a Blackhawks assistant for a year, and then coached two years in the Ontario Hockey League. He has spent the last three years as an assistant with the AHL's Providence Bruins. As a player, he played 36 NHL games with Chicago between 1985-90, scoring four goals. A native of Ottawa, he is 46.
Stu Grimson: The "Grim Reaper" was a legendary enforcer who played five games with the Ice in 1991-92, totaling a goal, an assist and 17 PIMs. He returned to the NHL that season and never left, eventually playing 729 NHL games between 1988-2002 for Calgary, Chicago, Anaheim, Detroit, Hartford/Carolina, Los Angeles and Nashville, totaling 2113 PIMs. He was part of a Blackhawks team that played in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1992. He later earned a law degree from the University of Memphis and is currently a practicing attorney in Nashville. A native of Vancouver, he is 46.
May 21
Lou Dietrich: Defenseman who played for the Chiefs in 1958-59, their final playoff season. He also was a part of the powerful Cincinnati Mohawks' Turner Cup championship team in 1957. A native of Waterloo, Ontario, he was born in 1932.
Gary Stewart: Defenseman who scored one goal, 14 assists and had 103 PIMs for the Ice's inaugural team in 1988-89, playing 48 games. That was close to the end of a seven-year pro career primarily spent in the IHL. He played with Salt Lake and Milwaukee before joining the Ice. A native of New Westminster, B.C., he is 47.
Todd White: Ice's leading scorer in 1997-98, his first pro year. He totaled 46 goals and 36 assists in the regular season, and then had two goals in the five-game playoffs series loss to Orlando that year -- including an OT goal in Game 4 to prolong the series. He would parlay that into a long NHL career that saw him play 653 games and score 141 goals for the Blackhawks, Flyers, Senators, Wild, Thrashers and Rangers. He had 22 goals and 51 assists for the Thrashers in 2008-09. White is still active, having played this past season for AHL Hartford. A native of Kanata, Ontario, he is 36.
Jon Sorg: Defenseman who played the 2001-02 season with the Ice, totaling six goals and 21 assists at the end of a six-year pro career that began with AHL Hershey in 1997. A native of Branchville, N.J., he is 37.
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