Sunday, May 29, 2011

Today in history: May 29

It's Indianapolis 500 Sunday, so we look back at the birthdays while sitting in traffic and putting our earplugs in. Enjoy race day, wherever you are!
Ken MacKenzie: Left wing who played a partial season with the Capitals in 1948-49, splitting the year between the Caps and Buffalo Bisons. He had 13 goals on the year. He had played in the "AA"-level USHL prior to his stint with the Ice, and went back to the league after 1949, posting back-to-back 20-goal seasons. A native of Winnipeg, he was born in 1920.
Bernie Hill: Defenseman who played 13 scoreless games with the Chiefs in their inaugural 1955-56 season. He played seven years, primarily in the Eastern Hockey League -- the IHL's eastern seaboard counterpart. A native of Toronto, he was born in 1929. 
Larry Mavety: Member of the Racers in their 1976-77 season, playing 10 games and totaling two goals and two assists. He played several WHA seasons, starting with the league's inaugural 1972-73 year, but those would be his final games in the WHA. After retiring in 1979 as a player, he began a long coaching career, all spent in the major junior OHL. He is currently the general manager of the Kingston Frontenacs -- and his last stint as coach was succeeding ex-Ice player and coach Bruce Cassidy. He is one of several ex-Indianapolis players running major junior teams. A native of Woodstock, Ontario, he is 69.
Brian Noonan: Right wing who played for the Ice in their Turner Cup championship season of 1989-90, stayed in Indy the following year, and returned in 1998-99 after a long NHL career. In 180 games with the Ice, he totaled 97 goals and 133 assists. He also had a 6-9-15 line in the 1990 Turner Cup playoffs, and also scored six goals in the epic 1991 seven-game loss to Fort Wayne. He was an IHL Second-Team All-Star in 1990 and a First-Team All-Star in 1991. He also was the top American-born rookie in the league in 1986 with Saginaw, then the Blackhawks' affiliate. In the meantime, he played 629 NHL games, totaling 116 goals. He played for the Blackahwks, Rangers, Blues, Canucks and Coyotes, leaving the Ice in 1999 to go to Phoenix at the end of that season. After the Ice left the IHL, he finished his career with the IHL's Chicago Wolves. He won the Stanley Cup in 1994 with the Rangers -- and is believed to have scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal in Game 7, although it was attributed to ex-Racer Mark Messier -- and played in the 1992 finals with Chicago. Today, he coaches high school hockey in Chicago. A native of Boston, he is 46. 

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