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.

Today in history: December 5

December 5 in Indianapolis hockey history

1946: Additional seats are added to expand Coliseum capacity to 11,000 to handle huge postwar crowds.

1950: Marcel Pronovost is sent to the Capitals from Detroit, as is Steve Kraftchek. The future Hall of Famer plays 34 games and posts a 9-23-32 line with the Caps. He would become noted for his deft stickhandling ability, wand would be called back up to Detroit for good on Feb. 15. 

1974: Paul Deneau takes control of the Racers in their inaugural season, as the initial ownership group dissolves.

1982: The Checkers' Charlie Skjodt posts a hat trick in a 5-4 victory over Nashville. Mats Hallin pots the game-winner. Skjodt would later coach the Indiana Ice, and currently serves as the team president. 

Birthdays

Les Douglas: A perennial Capital, Douglas played for the Caps from 1939-43 -- splitting three of those seasons with the Red Wings -- and then again after WWII from 1945-47. In all, he played parts of six seasons in Indianapolis, playing 252 games as a Capital. He scored 116 goals and had 187 assists. His highest-scoring years came after WWII, when he had 44 goals and 46 assists in 90 games in 1945-46, and followed that up with a 26-57-83 season in 1946-47, leading the team in scoring both years. He was the AHL's top scorer in 1946 and a First Team All-Star. He was a Second Team All-Star the following year. He was a part of division championship teams in 1940 and 1942 and the 1942 Calder Cup champions. He had eight goals and nine assists in the 1942 Calder Cup playoffs, and nine goals and 14 assists in 20 playoff games as a Capital. He would continue as a high-scoring player for Buffalo and Cleveland, topping the 100-point mark and winning the AHL's MVP award in Cleveland in 1950, a year the Barons lost the Calder Cup finals to Indianapolis. Douglas also played 52 games with the Red Wings and spent the 1943 playoffs in Detroit, where he had three goals in 10 playoff games as the Wings won the Stanley Cup. A native of Perth, Ont., he was born in 1918, and passed away in 2002.

Joe Hardy: "Gypsy Joe" was a center for the Racers for 32 games in 1974-75. He had two goals and 17 assists in the team's maiden voyage in the WHA. In total, he played 273 games in the NHL and WHA, with the California Golden Seals, Cleveland Crusaders, Chicago Cougars, Racers and San Diego Mariners from 1969-75. He had 55 goals and 108 assists as a major pro player. He later became the first professional player to top the 200-point mark in 1975-76 with the NAHL's Beauce Jaros, when he had 60 goals and 148 assists. He was the team's player-coach that year and led them to a 54-18-2 record. Hardy coached in the AHL and also in the QMJHL for several years. A native of Kenogami, Quebec, he is 66.

Today in history: June 15-16

Birthdays

June 15

Marcel Pronovost: One of the greatest defensemen in the history of the game, Pronovost played 34 games for the Capitals in the 1950-51 season. His talent was evident from the moment he pulled on a blue sweater, and it wouldn't be long before he got the callup to Detroit. In those 34 games, he tallied nine goals and 23 assists -- an amazing pace for a defenseman in any era. He actually played his first NHL game in the 1950 Stanley Cup playoffs, filling in for Red Kelly -- who himself had taken injured Gordie Howe's spot up front. Pronovost was known as a big hitter, a great skater and an effective puckhandler who was the quarterback of five Stanley Cup champion teams -- 1950, 1952, 1954 and 1955 with the Red Wings and 1967 with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He has also had his name etched on the Stanley Cup three times as a New Jersey Devils scout in 1995, 2000 and 2003. He was an NHL First-Team All-Star defenseman twice and a Second-Team All-Star defenseman twice. Pronovost played 20 full seasons (and 1,206 games) in the NHL and 24 years of pro hockey, finally retiring as the player-coach of the Tulsa Oilers in 1971. He coached in several leagues through 1983 -- including a stint as a WHA (Chicago Cougars) and NHL (Buffalo Sabres) head coach, and then embarked on a career as a scout. He is one of a handful of ex-Caps to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. A native of Lac-La-Tortue, Quebec, he is 81.

Dan Cesarz: A forward who played 40 games for the Ice this past season, totaling five goals and three assists. A native of Redford, Michigan, he is 19.

June 16

Steve Toll: Right wing who played 26 games for the Ice in the 1999-2000 season, totaling four goals and five assists. He played four years professionally, his best season coming in 1997-98, where he had 25 goals and 41 assists with both Columbus and Fayetteville in the CHL. A native of Thorold, Ontario, he is 37. 

Kevin Carr: Defenseman who played two games for the Ice in the 2003-04 season, his last season of five in professional/senior hockey. A native of Chicago, he is 33.