This date in Indianapolis hockey history: April 27

Today's post has Max Cook scoring a critical go-ahead goal for the Ice in 2009 as they take a lead in their semifinal series, Ken Boone scoring the game-winner in the 2000 Miron Cup Final opener, Marc Lamothe posting a shutout and Craig Mills scoring in 2OT to give the Ice their final win as an IHL club in 1999, Red Laurence scoring the final goal in the 21-year history of the old Central Hockey League in 1984, and the Racers scoring four second-period goals to stay alive in 1976. Wish happy birthdays to George Harrison, John Blessman, Yves Heroux, Kent Paynter, Jamie Carroll and Robert Polesello.   

Today in histor: August 25-28

Catching up a few dates on TIH: 

August 25

John French: Left wing who played 74 games for the Racers in 1977-78, scoring nine goals and eight assists. It was the last of six WHA seasons -- he would play 420 games in the league, with 108 goals and 192 assists. His best year was 1975-76 with San Diego, in which he had a 25-39-64 line. He played the following season in the AHL before retiring. A native of Orilla, Ont., he is 61.

Jacques Demers: Racers coach from 1975-77. He led the team to a record of 71-76-14 and the only two postseason appearances in team history. In 1976, the Racers won the WHA's West Division title. The following year, the swept the Cincinnati Stingers in the opening round of the playoffs before falling to eventual Avco Trophy champion Quebec in the division finals. Demers had been the Racers' player personnel director before being promoted when Gerry Moore was fired early in the 1975-76 season. After his stint with the Racers, he coached the Cincinnati Stingers, brought the Quebec Nordiques into the NHL, and also served as the head coach of the St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning. He led the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup title in 1993. Three other times, he took teams to the conference finals -- the 1986 Blues and the 1987 & 1988 Red Wings. He was the NHL's Coach of the Year in 1987 and 1988, and the American Hockey League's top coach in 1983 with Fredericton. Demers currently serves as a member of the Canadian Senate. A native of Montreal, he is 67.

Monty Trottier: Center who played parts of five seasons with the Checkers, starting in the 1981 CHL Playoffs -- shortly after finishing his junior career. He played four full seasons with the Checkers -- 1981-84, and then again in 1985-86. He totaled 73 goals and 99 assists in 285 games with the Checkers, with his best year coming in his final season, where he had 27 goals and 38 assists. He was a part of the Adams Cup champions in 1982 and 1983. He had seven goals and 16 assists in 42 playoff games, including a 1-7-8 line in leading a young squad to the 1984 Adams Cup finals. He also had 452 PIMs. The Islanders' fourth-round pick, Monty is the younger brother of six-time Stanley Cup champion and Hockey Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier. He remained in Indianapolis after his retirement from hockey and has been active as a hockey coach and instructor, running TNT hockey camps with his brothers Rocky and Bryan. A native of Val Marie, Sask., he is 50.

Frank Bialowas: A popular enforcer who joined the Ice late in the 1998-99 season and played 16 games. He scored one goal and had 27 PIMs. "The Animal" also played professionally from 1991-2000 and again from 2004-06, totaling 200+ PIMs in seven different seasons. He played four NHL games with Toronto in 1993-94. A native of Winnipeg, he is 41.

Aug. 26
Bryon Baltimore: Defenseman who played for the Racers from 1975 through the aborted 1978-79 season. He played 116 games for the Racers, totaling three goals and 33 assists. He also played all 16 playoff games in Racers history, with one assist. Baltimore played 333 WHA/NHL games, also playing for the Chicago Cougars, Denver Spurs, Cincinnati Stingers and Edmonton Oilers between 1974-80. He retired as a player after the 1980-81 season, and later coached the CHL's Montana Magic in 1983-84. A native of Whitehorse, Yukon, he is 59.

Aug. 27
Don Perkins: Member of the Checkers in 1986-87 and Ice in 1988-89. The defenseman graduated from Ohio State University in 1986 and played three pro seasons. He totaled two goals and 15 assists, as well as 118 PIMs, in his 51 games with the Checkers & Ice. In-between, he played 33 games for the Fort Wayne Komets and the AAHL's Virginia Lancers. In 1989, he retired from hockey and began coaching the Brebeuf high school team, which he continues to do. A native of Whitby, Ontario, he is 48.

Mario Doyon: Defenseman for the Ice at two ends of his career -- playing 66 games in 1989-90 and 63 games in 2003-04. He totaled 32 goals and 56 assists in those 129 games with the Ice. He came to the team in 1989 as a Blackhawks farmhand -- he was drafted by them in the sixth round in 1986 -- and he played  28 NHL games with the Blackhawks and Nordiques between 1988-91, scoring four goals. After his short NHL stint, he played several yeras in the AHL and IHL before moving to Europe after the 1995-96 season. He returned to play for the Ice in 2003 -- the team's final CHL season -- and retired after playing one game the following year in Corpus Christi.  While he played much of the 1990 championship season with the Ice, he was traded to Quebec partway through the year. Since retiring, he has settled in Indianapolis and has served as a hockey coach, including with the Indiana Junior Ice. A native of Quebec City, he is 43.
Craig Mills: Winger who played for the Ice from 1996-99, playing 134 games, totaling 22 goals, 21 assists and 332 penalty minutes. His best year came in 1996-97, when he had 12 goals to help the Ice win an IHL division title. After his stints with the Ice, he played four more years in the AHL and three in Europe before retiring in 2006. He also played 31 NHL games for the Jets (in 1995-96) and Blackhawks (1997-99). A native of Toronto, he is 35.
Pat Leahy: Forward who played three games for the Ice in 2001-02, totaling one assist. He had played at the NCAA Div. III level and briefly in the UHL prior to joining the Ice. A native of Canton, Mass., he is 35.
Eddie DelGrosso: High-scoring defenseman for the Ice from 2004-06. He played 116 regular-season games with the Ice, totaling 34 goals and 51 assists. He also had a goal and six assists in eight playoff games. He was one of several ex-Ice players who played at Nebraska-Omaha, where he was a blueline mainstay for four years before turning pro in 2010. He has played professionally in the AHL, in Finland and with the ECHL Las Vegas Wranglers. A native of Las Vegas, he is 26.

Greatest playoff games #4: Ice 1, Detroit Vipers 0 (1999)

We are now down to the "final four" in our countdown of the greatest playoff games in Indianapolis hockey history. A lot of these nights are very memorable to those who lived them, for different reasons. Many of ours are championship moments, series-turning games that propelled the Indianapolis team to victory. 

This is significant for a few different reasons. 

In 1999, the Ice had undergone a complete makeover. Throughout much of the latter half of the decade, NHL teams had withdrawn their support from IHL teams and moved their affiliations to the rival American Hockey League. Meanwhile, the IHL was becoming more and more dominated by independent teams full of veteran free agents -- essentially becoming a "AAAA"-level league, one that was not quite on par with the NHL, but also becoming less and less of a developmental league. It was also becoming more and more costly to operate in without NHL affiliations to pay player costs.

Those two things converged on the Ice and eventually made it their final season in the league -- ending what would be a 15-year relationship with the IHL for the franchise that began as the Indianapolis Checkers in 1984 and were re-branded the Ice in 1988 after a year off. For the previous nine years, the vast majority of the Ice's roster was supplied by the parent Chicago Blackhawks, but they began to move their prospects to their new AHL affiliate, only partly stocking the Ice. The team had to sign a handful of free agents -- one of them was ex-Ice forward and NHL veteran Brian Noonan -- but it would be a transition year. They moved back to the Pepsi Coliseum after four full seasons of playing at Market Square Arena. Longtime coach Bob Ferguson moved on to a job in Florida, and ex-Ice defenseman Bruce Cassidy came back to lead the team, continuing a career that would lead him to a head coaching position in the NHL.

The buzzword was transition. Forty-two different players suited up in the Ice's familiar purple, black and white uniforms during the year. Some were veterans, like Noonan, Dale DeGray and ex-NHL defenseman Bryan Fogarty. Some were up-and-comers, like forward Dave Hymovitz, who had a breakout season. Some were familiar faces come back, like Craig Mills, who returned to Indianapolis after spending the season with Chicago -- both in the NHL and IHL. The team would have only two 20-goal scorers -- Hymovitz and Sylvain Cloutier. It would use five different goaltenders during the year. And it would go on a huge winning streak to nose out the Grand Rapids Griffins by two points and claim the final playoff spot in the 16-team league. 

At 33-37-12 and enduring so much change, not much was expected of this Ice team when postseason play began. The Ice hadn't won a playoff series since taking the Turner Cup in 1990, and had totaled 16 fewer points than their first-round foes, the Cincinnati Cyclones. The playoffs started with a 4-2 loss in Cincinnati, but caught some lightning when it built a 3-0 lead in the first period of Game 2. But Cincinnati scored three times in four minutes to tie the game in the second, chasing starting goaltender Geoff Sarjeant and brought in Ice veteran Marc Lamothe. He had struggled in the regular season, with a 9-16-6 record and a 3.78 GAA. Lamothe had been a veteran in Indy, having split time with Jim Waite and Jani Hurme in previous years, but here was his chance. 

And he would from that moment on begin one of the most amazing shutout strings in Ice history. Lamothe faced 18 shots in that game against Cincinnati, turning them all away and setting the stage for Nathan Perrott's game-winner 2:41 into overtime. The next night, Todd Rohloff scored exactly halfway through the third period, while Lamothe turned aside 43 shots. He had stuffed the Cyclones, making 61 saves and posting 95:14 consecutive shutout minutes, and the Ice had won the best-of-3 series thanks to it.

That brought the Ice into a second-round series with the high-flying Detroit Vipers, and sets us up for #4 on our list of greatest playoff games. 

This might be listed "Greatest Playoff Theft." 

The best-of-5 series began at the Palace of Auburn Hills, as the Vipers had been the IHL's second-best team in the regular season, with 111 points and a 50-21-11 record. As independents, they had a ton of veterans, with six 20-goal scorers, led by Stan Drulia and Peter Ciavaglia. NHL veterans John Gruden and Craig Wolanin manned the blueline. And the goaltender? Another NHL vet in Andrei Trefilov, a player who had a big role with the Ice earlier in the year. But the Blackhawks traded him to the Calgary Flames partway through the year, and Trefilov was assigned to the Vipers. Interestingly, Geoff Sarjeant -- the Ice's goaltender at the end of the year -- had started the season in Detroit. 

A crowd of 5,196 in "Hockeytown" expected an easy Vipers victory on April 27, 1999. Detroit was well-rested, having earned a first-round bye while the Ice were gutting out three games against the Cyclones.

Trevilov manned his spot in net at one end of the Palace rink. Lamothe did so at the other. Two goaltenders who hadn't given up a goal in the postseason -- Trefilov hadn't played in the postseaon yet -- and it would take forever for them to blink.

They'd put on a duel for the ages. In the first period, Detroit's Stuart Malgunas took two penalties in the first four minutes, but Trefilov held the Ice at bay. Lamothe did the same on the other end, killing off penalties to Vince Williams and Nathan Perrott. 

Back and forth they went. Each goaltender stopped nine shots in the first period. The scoreboard lights at the Palace hadn't changed.

In the second, it was more of the same. The Ice and Vipers each had seven shots turned away. Detroit killed off two penalties, while Lamothe turned away every Vipers missive on a mid-period penalty to Marty Wilford. 

40 minutes. No goals. This might go on all night. 

It nearly did. Detroit got the better of the play in the third period, and had a golden opportunity when Ice defenseman Jeff Paul was sent off for holding at 5:52. Nothing doing. Lamothe turned aside every shot. Twelve shots in all at the Ice goaltender, but he had a force-field around him. 

A full game had been played. Nothing had been decided. The loneliest places were at the ends of the rinks. 

Detroit came after the Ice in the first OT, carrying the play more and more. Fifteen shots, but 15 saves. Brian Felsner and Peter Ciavaglia had each fired five shots. Yves Sarault fired six. Nothing. There were two four-on-four chances to allow the talented Vipers offense to show its stuff. 

Nothing. 

80 minutes. No goals. Lamothe had turned aside 43 shots. Trevilov had turned aside 30. Nothing had gotten behind him. 

It was getting late in the northern Detroit suburbs. It being a Tuesday night, not many of the 5,196 had stayed around. The game moving past 11:00 when the puck dropped for the second overtime. Which team would crack first? It would be the Vipers. 

Young defenseman Bob Lachance would begin the game-winning play. Skating with the Ice's higest-scoring line of David Hymovitz, Marty Wilford and Craig Mills, Lachance fed Hymovitz. He sent a feed for Mills, who fired. 

It crossed the line. The red light went on. Game over. After 83 minutes and 57 seconds of hockey -- the 3:57 mark of the second OT -- the Ice streamed off the bench and surrounded Mills and Lamothe. The game ended just a shade inside four hours after the puck dropped, at 11:35 local time in Detroit.

The Ice had outlasted the Vipers 1-0. Marc Lamothe was amazing again. In three games -- two of which had gone to OT -- he had turned aside every shot he had faced. He stopped 106 consecutive shots, and had a shutout streak run to 179:11 -- just a few seconds shy of three full games. In three appearances, he had two victories in OT, two victories in 1-0 games and had been on the ice for only three goals scored by his team, yet had won every game. 

Things looked good for the Ice. They had won three straight playoff games by one goal and were flying high, but it would turn out to be their last hurrah as an IHL franchise. Lachance gave the Ice an early 1-0 lead in Game 2, but the shutout streak would be ended by Stefan Ustorf at 14:58 of the first period, and then the floodgates opened. Lamothe would get chased after giving up three goals in the first 6:54 of the second period -- at the time, the Ice trailed 4-2 -- and they went on to fall 7-2. Detroit won two one-goal games when the series returned to Indianapolis -- winning 3-2 in OT in Game 3 on Yves Sarault's goal 8:05 into OT, and 3-2 in Game 4 when the Ice turned the puck over in their own zone in the closing seconds and Stan Drulia beat Lamothe with a shot with six seconds left in regulation to bring about a sudden end to an Ice playoff year in which five of the seven games were decided by one goal, three in overtime.

Lamothe's shutout streak would end at 194:09 -- just a couple minutes shy of 10 full periods -- and be one of the most amazing runs in IHL history, and set a record for consecutive scoreless postseason minutes in Indianapolis -- eclipsing Hall of Famers like Terry Sawchuk, Dominik Hasek and Harry Lumley, as well as Joe Turner -- the IHL championship trophy's namesake -- and local legends like Kelly Hrudey, Rob Holland and Jim Waite.

Detroit would fall to Orlando in the Eastern Conference final series, and then Houston would defeat Orlando in the Turner Cup Finals. Lamothe would play several more years professionally -- mostly in the AHL, but he did make four NHL appearances five seasons apart with Chicago and Detroit. He is still active in Europe. Trefilov would win the Playoff MVP award in 2000 with the Chicago Wolves and would be the Playoff MVP, and then head to Europe for six more seasons.

It would also mean a sudden end to the Ice, as team owner Horn Chen moved the franchise into the lower-level Central Hockey League the next season -- a league Chen was one of the principal owners of, and whose league office shared space with Ice headquarters at the Fairgrounds. They would completely turn over the roster -- although final-year IHL Ice player Remi Royer would eventually resurface -- and begin a five-year run in that league. The IHL would cease to exist in two years, as a its stronger franchises -- Milwaukee, Chicago, Grand Rapids, Houston, Manitoba and Utah -- would be absorbed into the American Hockey League and the rest disbanded, victims of rising costs. 

Boxscore

Game 1: April 27, 1999 at The Palace of Auburn Hills

Indianapolis Ice	0	0	0	0	1	--1
Detroit Vipers	0	0	0	0	0	--0

First Period
Scoring
none
Penalties: Malgunas (D) slashing 1:06; Malgunas (D) interference 3:38; Williams (I) holding the stick 7:56; Bezeau (D) interference 10:56; Perrott (I) holding 17:28
Second Period
Scoring
none
Penalties: Bezeau (D) roughing 3:38; Trefilov (D) delay of game 4:54; Herperger (I) roughing 9:35; Sarault (D) roughing 9:35; Wilford (I) hooking 10:44
Third Period
Scoring
none
Penalties: Paul (I) high-sticking 5:52
First Overtime
Scoring
none
Penalties: Williams (I) holding 8:41; Bezeau (D) holding 8:41; Wilford (I) roughing 14:28; Felsner (D) roughing 14:28
Second Overtime
Scoring
IND-Mills 1 (Hymovitz, Lachance), 3:57
Penalties: none
Shots on goal: IND 9-7-7-7-2--32, DET 9-7-12-15-2--45
Goaltenders: IND-Lamothe (83:57, 45 saves, 0 GA), DET-Trefilov (83:57, 31 saves, 1 GA)
Power plays: IND 0-5, DET 0-4
Attendance: 5,196
Officials: R-Mike Langlois, L-Dave Kronenberg, James Garafaio

Previous entries

#5: Checkers 3, Wichita Wind 2 (1982)

#6: Ice 2, Muskegon Lumberjacks 1 (1990)

#7: Capitals 6, Cleveland Barons 2 (1950)

#8: Chiefs 3, Louisville Rebels 2 (1958)

#9: Ice 7, Cedar Rapids RoughRiders 6 (2009)

#10: Checkers 6, Colorado Flames 5 (1984)