This day in Indianapolis hockey history: June 15

On June 15, the Ice announce a move to the Central Hockey League and we celebrate two birthdays: Hall of Famer Marcel Pronovost and Indiana Ice player Dan Cesarz.

Former Ice coach Sutter wins Stanley Cup

The Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup late Friday night (or Saturday morning in Indy) when Alec Martinez buried a rebound in the second overtime, giving the Kings a 3-2 win in the game and a 4-1 victory in the series.

Darryl Sutter coaching the Ice in the 1989-90 season.

What this means, of course, is that Kings coach Darryl Sutter is a two-time Stanley Cup champion, adding another name with an Indianapolis connection to the Stanley Cup.

Sutter coached the Indianapolis Ice to the 1990 IHL Turner Cup championship and has now led the Kings to the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014.

Coverage of the final game from the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and New York Times, as well as the LA Times' postgame column from veteran hockey writer Helene Elliott.

Also, check out a couple of feature stories on the Kings' coach, who has famously been a man of few words publicly this postseason. One, from Newsday, looks at him matching his brothers Duane & Brent, who each won multiple Stanley Cups as players with the Islanders. Duane also coached the Ice from 1993-95. Another story, from the Toronto Star, looks at Darryl's relationship with his son, Christopher, and others who have Down Syndrome.

Click here for a list of all Indianapolis hockey players/personnel who have had their name on the Stanley Cup.

Indy's title teams: The 1990 Ice

This is the third in a nine-part series looking back at Indianapolis' championship-winning hockey teams. This feature will appear periodically through the offseason. Previously: the 2009 Indiana Ice, the 2000 Indianapolis Ice. 

The Indianapolis Ice had a fresh start in the summer of 1989. After spending their first year as an independent, the team announced a primary affiliation with the Chicago Blackhawks, meaning the Ice would be a team full of NHL prospects much like the Checkers had been a half-decade before.

Bruce Cassidy hoists the Turner Cup in 1990. (Indpls. Ice)

 
The local fans knew they’d be seeing players on their way to the NHL. Little did they know the season they’d get on the way there. 

The 1989-90 Indianapolis Ice will go down as one of the great teams in IHL history, and also one of the great ones in local hockey lore. They went 53-21-8, won the IHL’s West Division championship by a whopping 31 points, and were hardly touched in a playoff run that saw them sweep the Muskegon Lumberjacks and win the Turner Cup – the city’s first hockey championship in seven years.

It was a given this would be a whole new team. The 1988-89 Ice had been an independent, and with no NHL affiliate to feed them players, put together a squad of veteran scorers and tough guys – in some cases, in the same package – that evoked memories of the 1970s Philadelphia Flyers. But on the ice, they hadn’t been successful, winning just 26 games.

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

This day in Indianapolis hockey history: May 14

May 14 in Indianapolis hockey history
1990: A crowd of 6,003 roars for the entire final half of the third period as the Ice clinch the IHL's Turner Cup, sweeping Muskegon in four games by beating the Lumberjacks 2-1. Mike Eagles scores 5:43 into the second, and Sean Williams follows with another goal at 9:05. That would turn out to be the championship-winner, as the Lumberjacks would score later in the period. Jim Waite stops 33 of the 34 shots he sees, including all nine in the third period. The Ice have to kill off three power plays after taking a one-goal lead, and do so successfully. The championship celebration is legendary, as the Turner Cup ends up needing to be put back together after a night on the town in Indianapolis.

Leaving Coliseum leaves a lot of memories

I was a spry lad of seven years old -- it was the spring of 1983. Other than a few trips to Bush Stadium to watch the Indianapolis Indians, sports weren't really on my radar screen. Adjusting to a new school, figuring out how to write legibly (OK, I never quite mastered that one), enjoying some good tunes (sadly, "Elvira" was the song of choice for our second-grade class) and playing with my train set were the main orders of business.

But one evening, my dad and I jumped into the car and I had no idea where we were going.

By the time we returned home, a whole new world had been opened up to me.

Our car parked in the barns next to a big barn-looking building -- the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum. As we walked inside this huge golden structure, I saw something totally new -- a huge, gleaming white sheet of ice, surrounded by walls. Before too long, the PA announcer introduced these guys skating onto that gleaming rink in white, blue and orange as "YOOOOOUR INDIANNNNNAPOLIS CHECKERRRRRRRRRS."

Fans blew airhorns. The action was fast. The goaltenders' equipment fascinated me. The Checkers scored a ton of goals -- I vaguely remember the score being something like 7-2 as they beat the Salt Lake Golden Eagles. And every time they did, the place went nuts. My seven-year-old self had permission to yell and scream and dance and celebrate.

I'm not sure my mother was too happy we went out late on a school night to see a hockey game, but I was.

Suddenly, I couldn't get enough hockey. It was as if a whole new world had been opened to me. I took in everything -- loved the blue and orange uniforms (and although I soon became a Boston Bruins fan, I still have a soft spot for the New York Islanders because of those blue and orange uniforms), took in the names, listened to Rick Heliste broadcast every game I could listen to (fun side note: we would become neighbors later in childhood and had several opportunities to exchange pleasantries). Bruce Affleck, Darcy Regier, Kevin Devine, Kelly Hrudey, Rob Holland, Scott Howson, Paul Boutilier, Garth MacGuigan, Red Laurence, Charlie Skjodt, Ron Handy, Tim Lockridge -- those guys and their names became larger than life to me.

That place became a magnet to me -- even if my trips were infrequent for many years due to that pesky problem of being too young to own a car -- it was always a siren call. I'd stop by and watch horse shows at the Indiana State Fair, just to soak in the building. As a result, so did the game played there. From that night forward, I devoured hockey -- watched it on TV, learned its history, read every book I could find (which wasn't exactly easy in Central Indiana), listened intently as older family members took Nelson Skalbania's name in vain, found out why they did, found out that Wayne Gretzky began his career here, all the while finding out I wasn't supposed to root for him because the Edmonton Oilers were the bad guys to the cadre of Islanders fans in Indianapolis -- which seemed to be legion at the time (and, a decade later, the city was naturally teeming with Chicago Blackhawks fans for the same reason), devoured the history of the Stanley Cup, and of course, watched it get presented every year (or, well, every year until John Ziegler inexplicably gave the U.S. TV rights to SportsChannel America for a few years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, thereby forcing me to follow my beloved Bruins on whatever stray radio broadcast I could find as they made multiple deep playoff runs in that time). It's why, as a visitor to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, I was as pleased to see the original Adams Cup on display as anything there, because of what it meant to me (and to my team) as a young hockey fan.

It helped that the Checkers were an atypical minor-league team, where the roster held together for virtually their entire five-year run. It also helped that they were a championship-caliber team.

I've been a part of the hockey scene in Indianapolis ever since -- as a fan, webmaster, historian, author, blogger, off-ice official, newspaper reporter, stats person and fill-in goal judge/video person/public address announcer -- but rarely do I see a game and not think of those teams, those nights as a seven-year-old spent in the Coliseum.

That old barn was built in 1939. Its first event was a hockey game -- the Indianapolis Capitals vs. the Syracuse Stars. It had received a few coats of paint since then, had most of the gigantic glass-block windows rimming the arena above the seats painted over (and, of all colors, brown). The center-hanging scoreboard had long since been replaced by the two boards that hung over the seats at center ice on either side -- I still remember the old FairPlay boards that had been installed for the Pacers whose clocks couldn't go higher than 19:59, so every period would start with 0:00 showing on the clock (and the Merchants Bank ad on one side, a Yellow Pages ad on the other).

It's probably best-known for non-hockey events -- most notably, and sadly, the fatal explosion in 1963 during an Ice Follies show. But it is also known as the home of the Indiana Pacers during their ABA glory days, hosting the Beatles in 1964, and hosting numerous presidential candidates in other years. One of my first dates with my wife was a non-hockey event at the Coliseum -- a Billy Graham Crusade rally/training session. Must be fitting.

But the Coliseum has always been, first and foremost, a hockey arena. It saw some of the game's greats -- Terry Sawchuk, Glenn Hall, Alex Delvecchio, Marcel Pronovost, Harry Lumley, Joe Turner -- pass through its gates in the early years. Luminaries like Eddie Shore and Johnny Bower played as visitors. Later on, Dominik Hasek, Olympic hero Ray LeBlanc and several NHL mainstays like Mike Stapleton, Keith Carney, Warren Rychel, Kellly Hrudey, Gord Dineen, Tony Hrkac and John Carlson would call the Coliseum home. From 1939 until the fateful Halloween explosion in 1963, it had hosted hockey teams in 21 of its first 25 hockey seasons. The Checkers brought hockey back in 1982, and it would share Market Square Arena with local hockey teams until 1998, when the Indianapolis Ice moved there permanently for what would become a 14-year run that spanned three franchises in three leagues. Indianapolis has claimed eight hockey championships -- the AHL Capitals in 1942 and 50, the IHL Chiefs in 1958, the CHL Checkers in 1982 and 83, the IHL Ice in 1990, CHL Ice in 2000 and USHL Ice in 2009 -- and all of those teams have called the Coliseum home.

The Coliseum is being gutted and completely rebuilt into a new, modern arena with a double-decked seating bowl, an elevated concourse between the two seating decks -- allowing for locker room areas to be separated from the fans. It will certainly be more comfortable for fans, media, players and, well, everyone else.

The Coliseum was never a beautiful arena -- it was a big barn with a low-slung seating bowl that went about halfway up, but was also built to accommodate a horse show ring, so it had an awkward outer wall that pushed the seats farther from the action, especially in the end zones. But, other than a few coats of paint, new seats from the RCA Dome and some new scoreboards, the interior hadn't changed much from the time it opened in 1939. It never had great sightlines. And the Ice did everything they could to accommodate media, scouts and game workers, with a small press area at the top of the seats for media and radio announcer, and a small crow's nest above each scoreboard for statisticians and video personnel that required a long climb up a metal staircase so steep, it was almost a ladder (and offered no view of any scoreboard, requiring the official scorekeeper to call down to rink level to get the clock time). The acoustics were notoriously poor, for years it had no air conditioning -- causing fog to form over the ice on warm nights.

But it was a charming building because of that. It was like your grandmother's living room -- a place where you always felt at home, where you always felt welcome. It has drawn me like a magnet for the better part of the last three decades, and while Market Square Arena might have been the perfect hockey building (with some of the best sightlines you'll see at any rink anywhere), the Coliseum was a unique one. The single concourse meant fans could interact with players or watch them start warming up. Every trip from the media room into the rink proper was met with smiles from the doorkeepers.

Last Sunday, May 6, 2012, we saw the final game ever at the "original" Coliseum. The Ice will move to Bankers Life Fieldhouse -- with a few games sprinkled in at Pan Am Plaza -- over the next two seasons, into an NHL-caliber arena with more amenities than a fan, media member or game worker could ask for.

And, while that final game wasn't what I remembered -- all the victories of my childhood were left with a close loss to a great Green Bay Gamblers team that finished with a goalmouth scramble that nearly led to the game-tying goal for the home team -- it was a memorable evening. At previous games over the last few weeks of the season, I soaked in the building one more time, taking pictures of the long stairway into the crow's nest that I had climbed many times, the views of the rink from all angles, the concourses and more. But this time, the memories came back. I sat rinkside as the game ended, looked up and spotted the general spot where my father introduced me to this great game. I closed my eyes and saw Darcy Regier patrolling the blueline, Garth MacGuigan and Red Laurence scoring goals, Kevin Devine winning a fight. As my voice billowed through the arena, wishing fans a safe drive home, my path out of the rink took me to the spot where I remembered walking in during a 1984 game that I had begged my parents to take me to, because Kelly Hrudey was back in Indy on a rehab assignment. The Tulsa Oilers' goaltender was John Vanbiesbrouck. Both would play many years in the NHL, and both would lead their teams to the Cup final. I still remember that game being a well-played 3-3 tie, and remember walking into the rink and seeing -- through one of the openings at rink level from the concourse -- Vanbiesbrouck make a save as we belatedly walked into the arena and headed down the aisle to take our seats.

I remembered Nathan Perrott scoring an OT goal for the Ice in 1999 at the far end of the rink, giving a team that had gotten hot at the right time just to get into the postseason a shot to win its first playoff series in nine years (and, at the same end, remembering the sinking feeling that we had when Stan Drulia scored off a turnover to eliminate the Ice and end their final IHL season). Looked over at the end boards behind the west net and saw Tulsa's Doug Lawrence spread-eagled across the exit door, not allowing the linesman to escort him out in a crazy 300+ penalty minute third period of a clinching Ice victory ... and how Jamie Morris was a brick wall during that entire championship run ... the din of 6,003 fans through my radio when the Ice clinched the Turner Cup in 1990, and sitting in my bed (couldn't convince the parents to go on a school night) and pumping my fists in the air as our team had won a title. I looked across the ice at the bench one more time to see where Charlie Skjodt, one of the architects of those early games that hooked me on hockey as a youth, was now coaching the newest generation of hockey players.

Today, I often bring my 5-year-old son to Indiana Ice games, and he is already becoming a fan. His fandom will likely include a new Coliseum, which will be very spiffy in time for its 75th anniversary, and his memories will likely involve a host of new names.

A lot of memorable players graced that ice. But there will always be a soft spot for those early 1980s Indianapolis Checkers and the barn they called home for turning me on to this great game and creating a lifelong fan.

Today in history: January 28

January 28 in Indianapolis hockey history

1950: In his first game after returning from a callup to Detroit, Caps goaltender Terry Sawchuk goes nuts against a Pittsburgh fan who waves a white handkerchief at him. Terry slashes at the glass with his stick, skates a few feet, then comes back and hinges himself on the glass at the fan. He had to be restrained by his teammate.

Birthdays

Sean Williams: One of the great players to lace up skates and represent Indianapolis, Williams played four full seasons with the Ice from 1989-93. He played 320 games with the Ice in those years, He had 130 goals and 156 assists, setting the IHL team records in games played and all scoring categories. His best year was a 46-52-98 season in 1990-91. He had 27 regular-season goals to lead the Ice to a division title in 1989-90, then tallied eight goals and five assists as they bulldozed their way through the Turner Cup playoffs en route to a championship. He also got a two-game callup with the Blackhawks in 1991-92. Williams' rookie year was with IHL Saginaw in 1988-89 -- then the Blackhawks' top affiliate -- and he left the Ice to play in Europe in 1993. He returned to play two more years with IHL Minnesota. Williams' No. 9 was retired by the Ice -- the lone skater from the IHL era to be so honored. A native of Oshawa, Ont., he is 44. 

Martin Desjardins: Ice center from 1990-92, with 19 goals and 49 assists in 107 games. He also had two goals in the 1991 first-round series against the Fort Wayne Komets. He played three seasons in the Montreal organization -- including eight games with the Canadiens in 1989-90 -- before joining the Ice. After his Ice stint, he played in Europe for several seasons. A native of Sainte-Rose, Quebec, he is 45. 

Today in history: January 18

January 18 in Indianapolis hockey history

Birthdays

Mark Messier: Racers forward in 1978-79, beginning his pro career on a five-game tryout contract. He was scoreless with the Racers, but joined the Cincinnati Stingers after the Racers folded, playing 47 games. Messier became one of the most prolific players and leaders in NHL history. He joined the Edmonton Oilers after the WHA-NHL merger in 1979 and had a 50-goal season by 1981-82. He followed it up with five 100-point seasons in the next eight years. Messier won six Stanley Cups in his career -- with Edmonton in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990 and with the New York Rangers in 1994. He also appeared in the 1983 finals, a loss to the New York Islanders. Messier played 26 pro seasons, retiring in 2004 as a Ranger. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1984, and won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and the Lester B. Pearson Trophy as the NHLPA MVP both in 1990 and 1992. He played 1808 NHL/WHA games, with 695 goals, 1,203 assists and 1,998 points. In the playoffs, he had 109 goals and 186 assists in 239 total games. He is second in NHL history for regular-season points (1887), playoff points (295) and regular season games (1756). His number 11 has been retired by both the Rangers and Oilers. He was a four-time First Team All-Star and played in 15 NHL All-Star Games. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, inducted in his first year of eligibility in 2007. A native of Edmonton, he is 51. 

Tim Lockridge: A perennial Checkers defenseman, he played for the team in all five CHL seasons from 1979-84, the full 1984-85 season in the IHL, and a few games the following year. He played in 393 games with the Checkers -- the only pro team he ever suited up for. He had eight goals and 67 assists as a Checker. He was a strong right-handed shooting defenseman. He is third all-time on the Indianapolis hockey games played list, behind longtime Checkers teammates Kevin Devine and Garth MacGuigan. He is the only player to suit up for six consecutive Checkers seasons. The Islanders' fourth-round pick in 1979, he was born in Barrie, Ont. he is 53. 

Jocelyn Perreault: Ice goaltender for five games in 1988-89, going 0-3-0 with a 6.17 GAA. He played parts of four pro seasons in the AHL, IHL and ECHL, and then played several years of senior hockey in Quebec. A native of Montreal, he is 46. 

Today in history: January 8

January 8 in Indianapolis hockey history

1946: Johnny Sorrell leaves Capitals’ coaching position to become GM. Earl Siebert replaces him for the balance of the season. Sorrell posted 62-55-30 record from 1943-46. Siebert would go 15-7-4 the rest of the year, but the Caps would be eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs.

Birthday
Ray Aho: Ice goaltender in 2000-01, sharing time with Jamie Morris that season. One of several CHL Ice players to hail from Ohio State University, Aho had a 19-13-5 record, a 3.05 GAA and one shutout in 38 games. That was his lone pro season. A native of Allen Park, Mich., he is 36.
 

Today in history: December 20

December 20 in Indianapolis hockey history

Birthday

Matt Oates: Left wing for the Ice in 1994-95. He had three goals and six assists in 59 games. He played for the Ice as a rookie out of Miami University, then played professionally -- primarily in the ECHL -- through 2003. He had four 20-goal seasons, three in the ECHL and one in the WCHL, in his career. A native of Evanston, Ill., he is 39.

Today in history: December 11

December 11 in Indianapolis hockey history

1955: The Chiefs end a dismal 15-game losing streak by beating the Fort Wayne Komets 3-2 in overtime. Jean-Marc Picard scores an unassisted goal 6:38 into overtime to win it, after Billy Kawulia scores two third-period goals – including one with 28 seconds left – to tie the game. The Chiefs would finish their inaugural year with an 11-48-1 record. 

Birthdays

Jason Mansoff: Ice defenseman in 1999-2000, totaling a goal and 12 assists in 24 games. The University of Maine graduate played in the ECHL, IHL and AHL before joining the Ice, then headed to Britain to play after his stint in Indianapolis. A native of Edmonton, Alberta, he is 39. 

J.C. Wells: Goaltender for the Ice in 2001-02, teaming up with Jamie Morris. He had a 2-14-2 record and a 4.55 GAA with the Ice. It was his only pro experience after graduating from Quinnipiac University. A native of Sheffield, Mass., he is 33.