Today in history: October 19

October 19

1943: Future Hall of Famer Harry Lumley makes his Capitals debut in net, beating the Buffalo Bisons 2-1 in front of 7357 at the Coliseum. Bucko McDonald would score the game-winner. Another player who would be a Capital fixture – defenseman Rod Morrison – played the first of his team-record 319 games in a Capital uniform that night. Morrison would total 88 goals and 130 assists in a career that spanned from 1943-44, and again from 1945-49.

1975: Gerry Moore is fired as the Racers coach, and player personnel director Jacques Demers is hired. The Racers are 1-4-0 in their second season, and would go on to win the East Division championship. Demers would post a 70-72-14 record in Indianapolis, and later coach the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup in 1993. 

Birthdays

Bob Ferguson: Very popular Ice coach from 1995-98 during the IHL days. Fergie's teams posted a 127-98-21 record. They made the playoffs each year he coached, and won the IHL's Central Division championship in 1997. His teams never won a playoff series, but dropped best-of-5 five-game thrillers in both 1996 (to Detroit) and 1998 (to Orlando). Ferguson came to the Ice after a long career in the USHL coaching Sioux City and Des Moines from 1981-95. After leaving the Ice, he coached in the ECHL for three seasons, returned to the USHL with Des Moines in 2001 for three years, and then went back to coaching in the ECHL for three more seasons. He is currently the assistant GM of the AHL's Syracuse Crunch. A native of Kingston, Ont., he is 57. 

Jake Skjodt: Ice forward who is a second-generation hockey player in Indianapolis. Skjodt played for the Ice from 2006-08, with 42 goals and 44 assists in 117 games. He also had 172 PIMs. He took his talents to Nebraska-Omaha where he played two collegiate seasons, and then went to Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Skjodt's father is former Checkers legend Charlie Skjodt, who also currently serves as the Indiana Ice team president and has served two stints as the team's coach. A native of Carmel, he is 24.