Today in History: November 8

Today in Indianapolis hockey history: November 8

1958: Billy Short scores with 2 seconds left to give the Chiefs a thrilling 3-2 victory over Toledo. Rene St. Hiliare scored with 1:25 remaining to tie the game. 

Birthdays

Jimmy Franks: The first goaltender to suit up in Indianapolis, Franks played for the Capitals from 1939-41. He had a 33-35-17 record and three shutouts with the Caps. He led the Capitals to a division championship in 1940, when he had a 2.23 GAA in 29 games. He had a 2.88 GAA in 56 games the following year. Franks broke into the NHL by subbing for Norm Smith for one game in the 1937 Stanley Cup playoffs, and got his name on the Cup as a result when the Red Wings won the trophy. He played one game for Detroit the following year, then made it back to the NHL in 1942 after being traded to the Rangers, where he played 23 games in 1942-43, and then went back to Detroit for 17 more games and to Boston for one game in 1943-44 during WWII. He had a 4.30 GAA in 42 NHL games. A native of Melville, Sask., he was born in 1914, and passed away in 1994. 

Bob Gracie: Capitals center in 1939-40, near the end of his career. Gracie had five goals and nine assists in 19 games at the end of the season after being traded from Cleveland in a deal for Don Deacon. He also had a playoff goal in the five-game loss in a best-of-5 to the eventual champion Providence Reds in the 1940 postseason. He joined the NHL with Toronto in 1930 and played 379 NHL games with the Leafs, Bruins, New York Americans, Montreal Maroons, Canadiens and Blackhawks. He had 11 goals and 25 assists with the Maroons in 1936-37, his best NHL season. He won the Stanley Cup in 1932 with the Leafs and 1935 with the Maroons. He retired after the 1947-48 season. A native of North Bay, Ont., he was born in 1910, and passed away in 1963. 

Mike Peluso: Member of the Ice from 1989-92, with nine goals and 12 assists in 85 games. He played the bulk of his time with the Ice in the Turner Cup championship season of 1989-90, where he had seven goals and 10 assists in 75 games. A noted "tough guy," Peluso also had 279 PIMs that season and 315 in his career with the Ice. He also had one assist and 58 PIMs in the 1990 Turner Cup playoffs, appearing in all 14 Ice games. He had two assists and 40 PIMs in the 1991 playoffs, as he played in five of the seven games in the epic series against the Fort Wayne Komets. Peluso made his NHL debut with the Blackhawks in 1989-90 and latched on mostly full-time the next year. One of the NHL's most feared fighters, he played nine seasons with the Blackhawks, Senators, Devils, Blues and Flames, with 1,959 PIMs in 458 games. He had a career-high 408 with Chicago in 1991-92. He also had 38 goals and 90 points. He won the Stanley Cup in 1995 with the Devils, as part of the "Crash Line" with Randy McKay and Bobby Holik. A native of Hibbing, Minn., he is 46. Today, he is a scout for the Edmonton Oilers. THN profiled him recently.