Hockey link roundup: June 23

A little bit to cover on Draft Week:

• ICYMI, Dominik Hasek was elected to the 2014 Hockey Hall of Fame class on Monday. Hasek is the 17th person with Indianapolis ties to be chosen for the Hall of Fame. 
• The NHL Draft is this weekend. Five players with Indiana Ice ties -- Josh Jacobs, Ryan Mantha, Blake Siebenaler, Rinat Valiev and Mitch Slattery -- are projected to be picked. Check out profiles of each. A few mock drafts from the NHL Bleacher Report, The Hockey Writers & The Hockey News. Looking ahead, there's a lot of scout comments about several USHL prospects (including Jacobs & Slattery) at OTB.
• Also, an update on Jeff Brown, the Indiana Ice's championship coach, going to Ottawa.

Ryan Huska with the Ice.

Former Indianapolis Ice captain Ryan Huska is moving up the coaching ladder. The longtime coach of the WHL's Kelowna Rockets, Huska was named as the head coach of the AHL's Adirondack Flames on Monday. They are the top affiliate of the Calgary Flames, and are based in Glens Falls, NY (the Flames' ECHL affiliate is the Kelly Cup champion Alaska Aces). Huska's boss in Calgary, Brad Treliving, is also a former IHL Ice player, although their tenures did not coincide. Treliving was also the president of the Central Hockey League when the Indianapolis Ice played there.

In other former Ice player news, Bruce Cassidy is mentioned as a possibility for the Boston Bruins' coaching vacancy (scroll down the article to catch it). He is currently the head coach of the AHL Providence Bruins, and his development work has been heavily praised. Cassidy played for, and later coached, the IHL's Indianapolis Ice. He also has been the Washington Capitals' head coach. 

There are also a couple new NHL head coaches: Gerard Gallant in Florida, Willie Desjardins in Vancouver. And, as of yet, nobody in Pittsburgh.

Indiana native Mike Emrick describes for SI his call (and subsequent 110 seconds of silence) of the Kings' Stanley Cup championship moment, as well as a brief interview with the broadcasting legend. 

If you need to know when your favorite NHL team is playing, the 2014-15 schedule is out. It opens Wednesday, Oct. 8, and will conclude on Saturday, April 11.

The ECHL meetings took place over the weekend. This link has a small recap, but expect a few changes to be announced soon. Among the notables, a voice that might be familiar to Central Indiana fans, Fort Wayne's Bob Chase, was named Broadcaster of the Year. The 88-year-old is on his seventh decade as the Komets' broadcaster

Looks as if @ECHL will have a new divisional alignment and playoff format next season. Expect it to be announced in the next week or so.
— Barry Schickling (@DoubleSMedia) June 23, 2014

Hockey links & potpourri June 6

Below the jump in today's link roundup, read about Jeff Blashill's contract extension, another new ECHL coach -- this time in Evansville (creating a vacancy in Elmira), the Reading Royals' new affiliation, an update on the Kelly Cup Final, and a really incredible story about Indiana native Doc Emrick that you won't want to miss.

One more for Monday: Emrick named to USHHOF

The United States Hockey Hall of Fame announced its next class this year, and a Hoosier was among the inductees.

Broadcaster Mike Emrick, who has been the voice of the NHL on national television for several years, first from 1986-88 on ESPN, then from 1995-2000 on Fox, and again from 2005-present on NBC. He also has been the television Voice of the New Jersey Devils from 1993-2011, and prior to that was the Philadelphia Flyers' TV voice from 1998-93. Emrick has been honored by the NHL (Lester Patrick Trophy), the Hockey Hall of Fame (Foster Hewitt Award) and recently won an Emmy award for his play-by-play.

Emrick is a native of LaFontaine, Indiana, celebrating his 65th birthday today. He graduated from Manchester College and also has graduate degrees from nearby Miami University and Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He began broadcasting in 1973 with the IHL's Port Huron Flags.

He joins former USHL player Gary Suter, Chris Chelios (whose two sons have played in the USHL), Keith Tkachuk and Flyers owner Ed Snider in this year's class. The USHHOF is based in Eveleth, Minn.

Other inductees with Indianapolis/Indiana ties are Dave Christian (2001, former Ice player), Cliff "Fido" Purpur (1974, former Capitals player),

The induction ceremony will take place this fall in Chicago.

Indiana native Emrick to NBC/VS full-time

If you've watched any televised hockey in the States over the past quarter-century, chances are you've heard Mike Emrick's voice.

Emrick has been NBC's lead play-by-play announcer for its national game of the week since 2005. He has also been Versus' lead announcer. The two networks merged when Versus owner Comcast purchased NBC during the past hockey season.

"Doc" -- so named because of a PhD earned from Bowling Green State University -- is a native of LaFontaine, Indiana. He graduated from Manchester College in 1968.

However, Emrick's day job has been with the New Jersey Devils, where he has been their television play-by-play voice since 1993.

Emrick announced Thursday that he's stepping down from the New Jersey job and will concentrate fully on NBC and Versus duties.

A couple of stories, first from USA Today and from ESPN, for which Emrick began doing national work in the late 1980s.

Emrick also wrote a letter to the New Jersey fans. He will turn 65 on Aug. 1, and mentioned his age, combined with the prospect of less travel, as a consideration as he decided to join NBC and Versus exclusively.

For a good retrospective of Emrick's career, read Richard Dietsch's SI story from June.