Indy's title teams: The 2000 Ice

The Ice celebrate with the Miron Cup (Indianapolis Ice photos)

Of the nine championship teams in Indianapolis, some looked like contenders from the start of the year -- the Checkers mini-dynasty and the 1990 Ice squad that steamrolled the competition come to mind. Some, like the 1950 Capitals with the great Terry Sawchuk in goal, were obviously contenders once we look at the roster in hindsight.

But none was as unlikely as the 2000 Indianapolis Ice. On May 12, 2000, they hoisted the Miron Cup, emblematic of the league championship. A mere 12 months earlier, the team didn't exist. Five months earlier, it had a losing record and looked like a longshot to make the playoffs.

Today, we look back at the 2000 Ice as we review the Indianapolis championship hockey teams.

Previously: the 2009 Indiana Ice

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. 

Greatest playoff games: #10 - Checkers 6, Colorado Flames 5, 1984

Starting today, we're counting down the greatest playoff games in Indianapolis hockey history -- starting in 1939 and going up through today. Let's re-live some of the great and significant moments that have thrilled us over the years.

Our first trip goes back to 1984. The Indianapolis Checkers had a mini-dynasty going in the Central Hockey League, much like their parents -- and owners -- the New York Islanders had going in the NHL. The Checkers had won back-to-back Adams Cup championships, with a roster that stayed remarkably intact for the first four years of their existence.

However, in 1983-84, the Islanders went with a youth movement in Indianapolis. Some of the mainstays that had carried the Checkers to back-to-back Adams Cups were gone, replaced by young and untested players. Not surprisingly, it showed in the results. A franchise that had been near the top of the standings in all four years of their existence was suddenly a sub-.500 team, finishing fourth out of five teams in the league and nowhere near a favorite come the playoffs. Especially because there was one dominant team -- the Colorado Flames. They'd gone 48-25-3 during the season and won the regular-season title by 22 points over second-place Salt Lake. The Checkers? They were 34-36-2, 29 points behind the Flames.

Al MacInnis played 19 games for the Flames that year -- although he was in Calgary by playoff time. They were backstopped by Mike Vernon, who would eventually have a 16-year career in the NHL and backstop two Stanley Cup champions. They were a veteran team that was the clear favorite.

Few were surprised when the Flames won the first two games of the series in Denver, putting the Checkers' backs to the wall right away. Colorado was dominant in a 5-3 Game 1 win that wasn't that close, then scored three goals in five minutes to win Game 2 3-2. Then, something happened during the first two games in Indy. The Chex jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on in Game 3, then used veteran Garth MacGuigan's hat trick to win Game 4 6-3.

That set up a pivotal Game 5 at the Coliseum on April 14, 1984 -- just 24 hours after Game 4. Should Colorado win, all it would have to do is win one of two when the series shifted back to McNichols Arena. Should the Checkers win, they'd be on the verge of an upset.

Ron Handy and Red Laurence scored in the first period to give the Checkers a 2-1 lead, but Colorado flexed its muscle in the second, beating Rob Holland four times and chasing him from the game. Trailing 5-2 going into the third, things looked bleak for the home squad, especially with a quality goaltender like Vernon trying to protect a three-goal lead with just 20 minutes to do so. Especially with untested Todd Lumbard -- who had spent much of the year in the lower-level International Hockey League -- now manning the pipes.

Sometimes, it takes just one break to get back into a game. At the 6:07 mark, Colorado's Mario Simioni was sent off for hooking. It was the first power play for either team in the game. Five seconds later, Bob Hess fired from the blueline and Red Laurence -- one of the other veterans back from the back-to-back Adams Cup titlists -- buried the rebound for a goal that made it 5-3. Midway through the period, Colorado defenseman Dale DeGray was sent off for tripping. The Flames killed the power play, but moments after DeGray stepped back onto the ice, one of the Checkers' "kids" -- Roger Kortko -- dented the nets on another rebound, as Hess fired from the point and Devine deflected it it over to Kortko. Suddenly, the Checkers were only facing a one-goal deficit, and had 7:46 to make it up.

Vernon staved off the next few minutes of attacks, but so did Lumbard in the other net -- stopping all 12 Flames shots in the final period. And the Checkers got another break. Coach Fred Creighton told Dave Simpson to check out the stick of Colorado leading goal scorer Pierre Rioux. With 2:12 left, Creighton called for a measurement, and referee Bill McCreary found out it had too much hook. The Checkers were going on the power play.

It took just half a minute to tie the score. Laurence fired a shot from the point. Monty Trottier tipped it past Vernon and into the net. Suddenly, it was a 5-5 game and the teams were going to overtime.

The Checkers peppered Vernon -- launching nine shots in the opening minutes of overtime. There, Gerald Diduck -- a rookie defenseman who would go on to an NHL career -- fed the perennial Checker Kevin Devine from the boards. Devine deflected it into the net 8:48 into overtime.

The Coliseum crowd of 3,215 was sent into delirium. Their Checkers, by taking advantage of three third-period penalties, including the very unusual stick measurement, defeated one of the top goaltenders in the CHL and managed to turn the tables in the series. This young group -- led by a few playoff veterans who stepped up when the series was on the line -- was on the cusp of ousting the prohibitive favorite.

A couple of days later, the series would go back to Denver and the Checkers would win 3-2, thanks to Laurence's fifth and sixth goals of the series. For the third straight year, they clinched a spot in the Adams Cup Finals. Despite hosting the entire series, they would lose to the CHL Oilers -- a team taken over by the league midway through the season that played without a home -- in four games.

But the epic series to get them there -- four of the six games were decided by one goal -- and the epic Game 5 comeback, was one of the most memorable playoff comebacks, and upsets, in Indianapolis hockey history.

Boxscore: April 14, 1984 at Fairgrounds Coliseum

Colorado	1	4	0	0	--5
Indianapolis	2	0	3	1	--6

First period
IND-Handy 2 (Sylvestre, Simpson), 3:34
COL-Hanson 1 (Rioux), 18:30
IND-Laurence 3 (Trottier, Regier), 18:59
Penalties: none
Second period
COL-Hanson 2 (Brubaker, Rioux), :21
COL-Brubaker 2 (Rioux, Hanson), 4:04
COL-Eakin 3 (Meredith, Ribble), 5:56
COL-Rioux 2 (Curtale, Vernon), 15:37
Penalties: Bradley (C) tripping, 10:30
Third period
IND-Laurence 4 (Hess), 6:12 (pp)
IND-Kortko 1 (Devine, Hess), 12:14
IND-Trottier 1 (Laurence, Simpson), 18:26 (pp)
Penalties: Simioni (C) hooking, 6:07; Harrington (C) high-sticking, 7:46; Devine (I) high-sticking, 7:46; DeGray (C) tripping, 10:06; Rioux (C) illegal stick, 17:48
Overtime
IND-Devine 2 (Diduck), 8:58
Penalties: none
Shots on goal: COL 10-14-12-5-41 (Holland 2 periods, 40:00, 21 saves; Lumbard 3rd period and OT, 28:58, 17 saves); IND 15-8-14-9-46 (Vernon 40 saves)
Power play: COL 0-0, IND 2-3
Officials: R-Bill McCreary, L-Jim Burlew, Jerry Burt
Att.: 3,215