This day in Indianapolis hockey history: July 1

Happy Canada Day to our friends from north of the border. 
Happy birthday to ...

Harvey Fleming: A player who split the 1957-58 season with the Chiefs and Troy Bruins in the IHL. He started the year in Indianapolis and then went to Troy prior to the team winning the Turner Cup. He joined the Chiefs after playing two junior seasons in Flin Flon, Manitoba. He played two pro years, playing the following season in the Eastern Hockey League with Johnstown. A native of Elliott Lake, Ontario, he was born in 1931.
Justin Bailey: Right wing who played two games for the Ice in the 2011-12 season. He scored one goal in that stint. He went to the OHL's Kitchener Rangers the following year, and has scored 42 goals in 111 OHL games. He was picked by the Buffalo Sabres in the second round of the 2013 NHL Draft. A native of Williamsville, NY, he is 19. 

Futures draft

The USHL Futures Draft is slated to begin at 7 p.m. tonight. The Futures Draft allows teams to pick the top 1996 birth year players in North America. The draft follows a serpentine format, so the team that picks at the top of the odd-numbered rounds (Omaha) will pick last in the even-numbered rounds, and vice-versa.

Ice picks
1st round: 5th (5th overall)
2nd round: no pick (used tender)
3rd round: 5th (27th overall)
4th round: 11th (44th overall)
5th round: no pick (traded to Sioux City)
6th round: 11th (74th overall)

Let's take a quick peek at last year's Ice Futures Draft haul (1995 birthdates, so all players will be 17 years old at the start of the season).
Round 1: Justin Bailey, C, Williamsville, NY. Opted to play in New York this year with the Midget Major Long Island Royals, but did play two games with the Ice over the Christmas holiday and scored a goal. Committed to Michigan State University.
Round 2: Max Domi, F, Toronto. After visiting Indianapolis and making overtures about going the U.S. college route instead of Canadian major junior, the son of ex-NHLer Tie Domi instead was traded to the OHL's London Knights and signed with them. He had 49 points in 62 games this year with London.
Round 4: Jeremy Gregoire, C, Sherbrooke, PQ. A very strong center who came to the Ice's Main Camp last June, but opted to sign with Chicoutimi in the QMJHL. He had 30 points in 61 games this year.
Round 5: Anthony Florentino, D, W. Roxbury, MA. Committed to Providence College. Played this past season at South Kent School. Played a brief stint with the USNDTP U17 team to play in a tournament in Slovakia. His high school coach is Eric Soltys, who briefly played goal with the CHL Indianapolis Ice.
Round 5: Tyler Kelleher, RW, Longmeadow, MA: Opted to go to the USNDTP this year. With 17 goals and 30 points in 36 games, Kelleher was the U17 team's leading scorer in USHL games. USNDTP players make a two-year commitment, so it is likely Kelleher will be back in the stars & stripes next year. New Hampshire commit.
Round 6: Patrick Fraser, G, Franklin, MA: Goaltender who has been to the USA Hockey national team goaltending camp. He backstopped the Cape Cod Whalers to a semifinal appearance in the U18 Midget national tournament.

Of these, Domi, Gregoire (both Canadian Major Junior) and Kelleher (USNDTP commitment) have made commitments for next year. We will keep an eye on the others as Main Camp approaches.

New Iceman propels Ice to 5-2 victory

Justin Bailey -- the Ice's first pick in the USHL Futures Draft -- made his USHL debut tonight.

It took him just half a period to score his first USHL goal.

A highly-touted 6-foot-3, 182-pound forward prospect from upstate New York -- and the son of former NFL player Carlton Bailey -- Justin Bailey had initially decided to play the year for a team coached by Pat LaFontaine on Long Island. He has been on the Ice's affiliate list, and has yet to show up on the Ice's 23-man protected roster, which is updated each Friday by USA Hockey.

Bailey -- who was also selected by the OHL's Kitchener Rangers this year -- couldn't have picked a better time to join the Ice and make an impact. Playing a big two-game series against a Youngstown Phantoms squad that appears to be in a tussle with the Ice for playoff position the rest of the year, Bailey scored the game's first goal, assisted by linemates Emil Romig and Dan Sherer, at 10:25 of the first period.

That would eventually turn into a four-goal lead in a 5-2 Ice victory over the Phantoms Friday at Pepsi Coliseum. The two teams will meet again at 6:05 p.m. Saturday at Bankers Life (formerly Conseco) Fieldhouse in downtown Indy.

The Ice took advantage of a 5-on-3 early in the second period -- with a carryover penalty to start the period added onto with a minor on ex-Iceman Alex Gacek. It took just 12 seconds into the two-man advantage -- and 46 into the second period -- for Daniil Tarasov to make it a 2-0 game, with Ryan Obuchowski and Robert Polosello assisting.

Sean Kuraly and John Doherty scored 1:47 apart midway through the period to make it 3-0. For Kuraly, it continued a hot streak, as he has now scored a goal in four straight games and has 17 for the season in 23 games. Doherty's goal was his first in eight games since joining the Ice in a trade from Dubuque, and it chased Youngstown starter Matthew O'Connor, who left after stopping 10 of 14 shots in 31:05. Sean Romeo stopped all 13 shots he faced after that. The Ice dominated the second period, outshooting Youngstown 16-8 in the middle 20 minutes.

Youngstown scored twice to cut the Ice lead to 4-2, but Ice goaltender Jon Gillies stood tall. Tarasov added an empty-netter for his 17th goal and 36th point of the year.

Gillies made 25 saves to make the lead stand up. He was making his 11th straight start for the Ice, and is 7-2-2 in that stretch.

The victory moved the Ice into second place with a 16-7-4 record and 36 points -- seven back of first-place Green Bay, one ahead of Dubuque and two ahead of Youngstown.

Three stars
1. Sean Kuraly (Ice), goal, +2, 2 shots
2. Daniil Tarasov (Ice), 2 goals, 3 shots
3. Justin Bailey (Ice), goal, +1, 3 shots

USHL boxscore

Ice in the CHL drafts

The Ice have had some action in the Canadian Major Junior drafts.

Current Ice player Adam Erne was chosen 22nd by the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL draft. Former Indianapolis Ice player and Mooseheads GM Cam Russell had a pretty good summation of Erne's play in this Canadian newspaper: "He played in the USHL as a 15-year-old last year so that tells you something. That’s pretty rare. He’s a real good player. He’s a solidly built kid who likes to hit and can score. He’ll be a big addition if we can get him to come to Halifax."

The Quebec Remparts picked Ice goaltender Jon Gillies in the ninth round. Gillies is already committed to Northeastern University and play collegiately.

Ice Futures Draft selection Jeremy Gregoire was chosen sixth by Chicoutimi, but there is much intrigue in Canada as to whether or not he -- and several other top picks -- will report to their Canadian teams or play in the USHL. Gregoire attended the QMJHL Draft and said he was pleased to be selected by the Sangueens and GM Guy Carbonneau, but in this article, he said (translated from French): "(The Ice and Sangueens) are two similar organizations, I will meet them both and see the small differences that exist. I'm in no hurry to make my choice, I give myself the summer," he said. Sangueens CEO Joe Canale said the odds of him going to Indiana or to the QMJHL are "50-50" in this article. He is described as a "born leader, who leads by example," and has captain material. 

Of course, as has been heavily-covered, Max Domi's overtures to playing in U.S. college (and therefore in the USHL) didn't keep Kingston from drafting him eighth in the OHL Priority Selection draft. Justin Bailey, the Ice's No. 1 pick in the Futures Draft, was chosen by the Kitchener Rangers in the seventh round. 

The Western Hockey League's Bantam Draft selects 13 and 14-year-olds, so that would be less likely to affect players on USHL radar screens. 

If everyone reports, the Ice will have a loaded, talented offensive team for next season, anchored by a goaltender who had a great 2010-11 in Jon Gillies and a handful of veterans.