This day in Indianapolis hockey history: June 24

June 24 in Indianapolis hockey history
2006: The NHL Entry Draft takes place in Vancouver, and two future Ice players are picked. The Atlanta Thrashers take goaltender Alex Kangas in the fifth round, and the Washington Capitals pick Brent Gwidt in the sixth. Kangas would play the 2006-07 season for the Ice, Gwidt would play the 2006-09 seasons with the team and captain the Clark Cup championship team in 2009.
 Happy birthday to ...
Jean-Yves Leroux:  Ice left wing who had 14 goals and 17 assists in 69 games in 1996-97. The Blackhawks' second-round pick in 1994, "J-Y" needed only a year of seasoning in the IHL before jumping full-time to the NHL. He played four full seasons for the Blackhawks, scoring 16 goals and assisting on 22 in 220 games through 2001. He played one AHL season in Norfolk in 2001-02, and then played eight seasons of senior hockey and minor pro hockey in Quebec before retiring in 2010. A native of Montreal, he is 38.
Fred Creighton: Checkers coach from 1981-84, and again in the 1985 playoffs. He led the team to two CHL Adams Cup championships, a third Adams Cup final appearance, and one CHL regular-season championship in three years as the team's head coach and general manager. He remained as GM of the Checkers in their first season in the IHL in 1984-85, and ended up coaching the team in the final six games of the playoffs that season. Creighton is the only coach to win two championships coaching Indianapolis-based teams. His Checkers teams went 126-97-9 in the regular season, and exploded in the postseason. They were 27-15 in the playoffs -- including 11-2 en route to the 1982 title and 9-4 in the 1983 championship season. He remained with the Islanders organization, going behind the bench of the AHL Springfield Indians in 1985-86, and again as a midseason replacement the next two seasons. In total, he won five championships -- in 1971 & 1972 with EHL Charlotte, 1973 with CHL Omaha, and 1982 & 1983 with the Checkers. He also coached in six NHL seasons with the Atlanta Flames and Boston Bruins. A native of Hamiota, Man., he was born in 1930. He passed away in 2011. He is the uncle of former NHL and Indianapolis Ice player Adam Creighton.