Today in history: January 12

January 12 in Indianapolis hockey history

1945: Joe Turner is reported as being killed in action in World War II. He backstopped the Capitals’ 1941-42 Calder Cup championship team before serving in the United States Marines. He had been reported missing in action in Holland on Dec. 13, 1944. The IHL’s Turner Cup would be named for him. He was one of two former NHL players to be killed in action in WWII, the other being Dudley “Red” Garrett. 

1961: The Chiefs pepper Fort Wayne’s Reno Zanier with 41 shots and win 5-3, breaking a 15-game winless streak (0-14-1) that lasted five weeks. Denis Menard scores the game-winner midway through the third. 

Birthdays

Jim Skinner: Capitals defenseman in 1944-45, with one goal and four assists in 57 games -- playing alongside his brother, Morden "Ducky" Skinner. Skinner was the team captain that year. He also had an assist in five postseason games. He returned to Indianapolis as the farm director (and de facto general manager) for the Indianapolis Capitols in 1963. He played two more years for the Omaha Knights, the Red Wings' "AA" affiliate, but his career was most notable for his role as a coach and GM. He began coaching in the IHL in 1947 and won the Turner Cup that year, and then took over as the Red Wings' head coach in 1954-55. The Wings won the Stanley Cup that year, and is considered to be the first person to have kissed the Cup. He held nearly every front office job with the Red Wings, as a scout, farm system director, player personnel director and eventually general manager from 1980-82. His predecessor in that position, Ted Lindsay, played one game for the Caps. His successor, Jim Devellano, came from having the same job with the Indianapolis Checkers. Skinner is also credited with being one of the first scouts to look for players in Europe, and with helping start the NHL Entry Draft, which began in 1963. A native of Selkirk, Man., he was born in 1917. He passed away in 2007. 

Alex Pirus: A high-scoring center with the Checkers in 1980-81, tallying 25 goals and 46 assists in 79 games, the last of his five pro seasons. He had three goals and two assists in the playoffs that year, as well. He was a third-round pick of both NHL and WHA teams in 1975 while playing at Notre Dame, but opted to play with the North Stars in 1976. He had 30 goals and 58 points in 159 NHL games, including a 20-goal season in 1976-77. He has since entered hockey ministry, and is the chaplain for the Chicago Blackhawks & Wolves. A native of Toronto, he is 57. 

Cam Russell: Ice defenseman for three seasons, from 1989-92. He played 140 games with the Ice, with 12 goals and 33 assists, with 317 PIMs. He also had three assists in 15 playoff games, and was a part of the Ice's 1990 Turner Cup championship. The rugged Blackhawks' third-round pick in 1987, Russell split each of his Ice seasons with the parent club, then played full-time with the Blackhawks in 1992-93 and then on. He played his final year -- 1998-99 -- with the Colorado Avalanche. He had nine goals and 21 assists in 396 NHL games, as well as 870 PIMs. He became an assistant with QMJHL Halifax in 2000, became the team's head coach in 2006 and is currently the Mooseheads' general manager. A native of Halifax, he is 43. 

Russ Guzior: Ice center for 16 games in 2003-04, their final CHL season. He had two goals and eight assists. He played professionally from 1997-2005, primarily at the "AA" level in the ECHL, UHL and CHL. In his best years, he had 28 goals with ECHL Mobile in 1999-2000, and 29 with CHL El Paso in 2003-04. A native of Chicago, he is 38. 

Dan Sherer: A forward in his first year with the Indiana Ice. He has settled into a center position in his one year in the USHL. A native of Nashotah, Wis., he is 20.

Today in history: January 11

January 11 in Indianapolis hockey history

1961: Chiefs coach Leo Lamoureux dies at age 44, the cause of death listed as acute hepatitis. He had left the team mid-season two months earlier to check into the hospital. Leo led the Chiefs to the 1958 Turner Cup championship and would be honored by the IHL, with its leading scorer trophy re-named for him. 

Birthdays

Connie Brown: A Capitals regular from 1939-43. He was known as a skilled playmaker who broke into the pro ranks in 1938-39 with the Red Wings organization. He had 19 points in 15 games in the Caps' inaugural 1939-40 season. He was the team's leading scorer the two following seasons, despite playing less than the full season with the Caps. He had 16 goals and 28 assists in 1940-41, then followed that up with a 19-goal, 34-assists season in the 1941-42 Calder Cup championship year. In 147 games as a Capital, he scored 56 goals and 97 assists. He also had eight goals and 11 assists in the playoffs, including 11 points in the championship year of 1942. He split each season with the Red Wings, totaling 39 points in 91 games from 1938-43 with Detroit. He was part of the 1943 Stanley Cup championship team, although he did not play a playoff game with Detroit that year. He played several years of senior hockey from 1943-on. A native of Vankleek Hill, Ont., he was born in 1917. He passed away in 1966. 

Florent Pilote: Defenseman for the Chiefs for four games in 1958-59. He had a goal and an assist, and also had an assist in five playoff games. From there, he embarked on an 11-year career in the Eastern Hockey League, nearly all with Nashville. A native of Fort Erie, Ont., he was born in 1936. 

Ray Ross: Center for the Capitols in 1963. He had two goals in the eight games the Caps played, and finished the year with 15 goals and 15 assists for the combined Caps/Cincinnati Wings team in 44 games. He was near the end of a 14-year career that was primarily spent in the AHL. A native of Hamilton, Ont., he was born in 1932.

Bobby Sheehan: Racers center in 1977-78, where he had eight goals and seven assists in 29 games. Sheehan was a diminutive player -- at 5-8, 160 -- but a sparkplug for his teams throughout his career. He broke into the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens in 1969-70 and won the Stanley Cup the following year. He then had 20 goals for the California Golden Seals in 1971-72, his first full NHL season. He jumped to the WHA in 1972-73 and scored 35 goals with the New York Raiders. He played 551 NHL/WHA games between 1970-83, playing for Montreal, Chicago, Detroit, the New York Rangers, Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles in the NHL, and for the New York Raiders/Golden Blades/Jersey Knights, Edmonton Oilers and the Racers in the WHA. He had 123 goals and 173 assists. He played in the 1979 Stanley Cup Finals with the Rangers, playing in 15 playoff games that season after spending the regular season in the minors. A native of Weymouth, Mass., he is 63. 

Alex Roberts: Ice defenseman from 1989-91 -- primarily playing in the 1990-91 season. In 83 games, he had 11 goals and 18 assists. He also had three assists in seven playoff games against Fort Wayne that year. He joined the team after finishing his career at the University of Michigan. He played through 1993 in the AHL and ECHL. A native of Detroit, he is 42. 

John Parker: Ice forward from 2008-10, where he had five goals and 19 assists in 89 games. He had three goals and three assists in 16 postseason games, and was part of the Clark Cup championship team in 2009. Parker played the 2010-11 season with the Muskegon Lumberjacks and is currently a freshman at the University of Maine. A native of Green Brook, NJ, he is 20.

 

Today in history: December 6

Birthday post today

Hank Bassen: Goaltender for the Capitols in 1963, posting an 0-3-1 record and a 3.83 GAA in four games. He was the only player to garner a point for the team as an Indianapolis entry, as it went 0-7-1 on the ice (and won a forfeit) before moving to Cincinnati. Bassen was an NHL veteran by that point, breaking in with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1955-56. He was traded to Detroit in the deal that sent Ted Lindsay and Glenn Hall to Chicago in 1957. He split time between the NHL and the minors for much of his career, playing in 156 NHL games with Chicago and Detroit between 1955-67 -- often backing up Roger Crozier in Detroit -- and with the Pittsburgh Penguins in his final pro season of 1967-68. He had a 46-66-31 record and five shutouts as an NHL goaltender, with a 2.97 career GAA. Upon retirement, he remained involved in junior hockey. His son Bob Bassen played for the Indianapolis Ice in the IHL a generation later. A native of Calgary, he was born in 1932, and passed away in 2009. 

Jay Hern: Left wing for the Ice in two stints, in 1999-2000 and again in 2001-02. In 108 games, he had 16 goals and 15 assists to go along with 202 penalty minutes. He spent a year with the CHL Topeka Scarecrows in-between his Ice stints. He had also played two years in the WPHL before coming to the Ice. A native of Medicine Hat, Alberta, he is 35. 

Bobby Dazel: Forward who played one game for the Ice in 2005-06. He is one of several Hoosiers to suit up for Indianapolis-based hockey clubs. A native of Carmel, he is 24.

Today in history: December 4

December 4 in Indianapolis hockey history

1942: Capitals beat Providence 5-4 despite trailing 4-0 after the second period. Caps pepper 62 shots on goal – Providence’s Mike Karakas makes 57 saves. Caps score 3 goals on the same PP, from Doug McCaig, Gerry Brown and Joe Carveth, the last two 17 seconds apart. Connie Brown scored the game-winner with 4:10 lef. 

Birthdays

Alex Delvecchio: One of the greatest players in hockey history, Delvecchio played six games for the Capitals in 1951-52. He had three goals and six assists in those six games, and his talent was apparent that he was quickly called up to Detroit. He would play the next 23 seasons for the Red Wings, a reliable center who posted 13 20-goal seasons during his career. He was one-third of the Red Wings' Production Line, along with Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay, all of whom are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. He had 15 goals as a rookie, and won the Stanley Cup in 1952, and won the Cup again in 1954 and 1955. When he retired in 1974, he was second to Gordie Howe in nearly every Red Wings offensive category, and his 1,549 games played for the Wings are still second in team history. Delvecchio totaled 456 goals and 825 assists during his NHL career. He also had 35 goals and 104 points in 121 playoff games. His No. 10 is retired by the Red Wings. A native of Fort William, Ont., he is 80. 

Myron Stankiewicz: A left wing who played for the Chiefs from 1955-58 -- actually splitting the first two seasons between Indianapolis and Toledo. In 1957-58, he had 25 goals and 36 assists to help lead the Chiefs to their only Turner Cup championship. He had six points in 11 postseason games that year. He spent many later years in the AHL -- primarily with Hershey -- before playing 35 NHL games with the Blues and Flyers in 1967-69. A native of Kitchener, Ont., he is 76. 

Irv Spencer: Defenseman for the Capitols in 1963. He was scoreless and had 26 penalty minutes in four games with the Caps before they moved to Cincinnati. He ended up with 11 points in 23 games total that year. Spencer broke into the NHL with the Rangers in 1960, and played four seasons with the Rangers, Bruins and Red Wings before a long minor-league career. He had a couple more short stints in the NHL, but stuck in the first two WHA seasons with the Philadelphia/Vancouver Blazers, where he played 73 games. He played 303 NHL/WHA games with 14 goals and 80 points. A native of Sudbury, Ont., he was born in 1937. He passed away in 1999. 

Patrice Robitaille: Right wing for the Ice in 1995-96. The Clarkson University grad had a goal and an assist in 10 games. He played through 2002, with a couple more seasons in the IHL and several in the UHL with the B.C. Icemen. A native of St. Catherine, Quebec, he is 41.