This date in Indianapolis hockey history: April 7

April 7 in Indianapolis hockey history
2001: The Ice are unable to defend their CHL title, as Memphis sweeps them out of the playoffs in three close games, this time by a 3-2 score in Memphis. Don Parsons scores the game-winner for the RiverKings.
1999: Bob Lachance tallies three assists as the Ice beat Kansas City 6-3 on the road. Dave Hymovitz scores twice and captain Mike Vukonich scores a goal and adds two assists.
1993: Sergei Krivokrasov and Brad Lauer score goals 10 seconds apart in the first period to give the Ice a 2-0 lead in an eventual 5-1 win at Kalamazoo. Lauer has two goals and an assist in the game. Shawn Byram had the first assist on both of the rapid-fire goals.
1991: The Ice beat the Kalamazoo Wings in a game that saw little defense - 10-7 in a regular season finale. The Ice jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first 11:01, but Kalamazoo tied it by th end of the period. Indy scored once in the second and five more in the third. Sean Williams had a five-point night with three goals and two assists to finish the year with 46 goals. Marty Nanne had three assists, while Jim Johansson had two goals and an assist. Brian Noonan and Owen Lessard had a goal and two assists each.
1990: The Ice score five times in the first period, including three in a span of 1:46, to beat Phoenix 8-4. Sean Williams (17:39), Jim Playfair (18:01) and Mike Stapleton (19:15) score in rapid succession to make it 5-0. Playfair scores twice. Mike McNeill, Dave Bassegio, Brian Noonan and Guy Phillips each tally a goal and an assist.
1985: The Checkers explode offensively for a 7-1 win over the Milwaukee Admirals. Lance Allen, a former star for the IU club team, scores the winner in front of Rob Holland's fine goaltending.
1982: The Checkers need overtime to beat Tulsa 3-2 and take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series. Red Laurence scores at 5:08 of the second OT to clinch the victory. Glen Duncan and Lorne Stamler scored in the second to give the Checkers a lead, but the Oilers tied it in the third.
1980: The Checkers win their first playoff game, blanking Tulsa 4-0. Richard Brodeur made 28 saves for the Checkers, Kevin Devine got into a fight five seconds into the game, and Charlie Skjodt scored the Checkers' first playoff goal at 13:11 of the first period. Skjodt adds an assist, and Alex McKendry assists on two goals. 

Happy birthday to ... 
Eric Manlow: Left wing who had 14 goals and 22 assists in 135 games with the Ice from 1995-97, starting a 13-year playing career that took him through the ECHL, AHL and IHL. He did play 37 NHL games with the Bruins and Islanders between 2000-03. He was an AHL All-Star in 2001. Manlow retired from hockey in 2008 and became a police officer in Niagara Falls, Ontario. A native of Belleville, Ontario, he is 39.  

This date in Indianapolis hockey history: April 3

On April 3 in Indianapolis hockey history

1996: Ravil Gusmanov posts a five-point night, tallying two goals and three assists in a 6-2 Ice win over Detroit at MSA. Sergei Klimovich has a goal and two assists, Kip Miller adds two assists.
1991: Dan Vincelette and Trevor Dam score 26 seconds apart in the second period, helping lift the Ice to a 5-4 win over Fort Wayne. The two goals made it a 4-2 contest. After the Komets tie it, Owen Lessard scores with 2:32 left in the second to give the Ice the win.
1981: Rob Holland and Salt Lake's Rick Heinz post a goaltending dual, but Heinz wins it and blanks the Checkers 2-0 in Salt Lake City. A name that would become familiar to Indy fans -- Red Laurence -- scores the game-winner for the Golden Eagles. A year later, Holland would again lose a 2-0 decision in Salt Lake. 
1980: Richard Brodeur posts his fourth shutout of the regular season -- and the Checkers' sixth -- in a 5-0 blanking of the Dallas Black Hawks. Brodeur and Jim Park would share the CHL's Terry Sawchuk Trophy as the top goaltenders in the league. Garth MacGuigan scores the game-winner.
1976: Market Square Arena registers its first sellout, as the Racers fall to the New England Whalers 5-2 in the regular season home finale.

Happy birthday to 
Bob Lakso: Member of the Indianapolis Checkers throughout their three years in the IHL, and would rejoin the Ice in their inaugural year of 1988-89. In those four seasons, he played 295 games, tallying 144 goals and 156 assists. He had a 40-goal season in 1985-86 (41-35-76), and a 94-point season in 1986-87 (39 goals, 55 assists). He had at least 26 goals in each of his four seasons in Indianapolis. He would leave Indy and play four years with the Fort Wayne Komets, posting a career-best 100-point season in 1989-90 in Fort Wayne. A native of Aurora, Minnesota, Bob is 52.
Aaron Smith: Played four games with the Ice in the CHL in 2003-04, picking up two penalty minutes. It was the first of two years he would play professionally, with five teams in the CHL and ECHL. In 61 games, he scored three goals and added 10 assists. A native of Madison, Wisconsin, he is 35.

Today in history: January 3

January 3 in Indianapolis hockey history

1961: In a highly-controversial move, Pierre Brilant is traded to Omaha for Bep Guidolin. The most prolific scorer in Chiefs (and Indianapolis hockey) history, Brillant tallied 204 goals and 181 assists in four and a half years with the team (1961). In his first game after being traded, he scored the game-winner for the Knights in a 2-1 victory over the Chiefs on Jan. 7. 

1980: Richard Brodeur makes 45 saves against the United States national team at the Coliseum in a 2-2 tie. A month later, the national team would complete the "Miracle on Ice" in the Lake Placid Olympic Games and win the nation's first hockey gold medal in 20 years. 

Birthdays

Marc LaForge: A defenseman who began and completed his career with the Indianapolis Ice in two different leagues. He played 14 games as a rookie for the Ice in 1988-89, tallying two assists and 138 PIMs in 14 games, then rejoined the CHL incarnation of the team in 2000-01 -- his final pro season -- with one goal, five assists and 175 PIMs. In-between, the Hartford Whalers' 1986 second-round pick played primarily in the AHL and IHL, which two short stints with the NHL Hartford Whalers Edmonton Oilers tucked into that in 1990 and again in 1993-94. He was a rugged defenseman who often complied triple-digit PIMs in protecting his teammates. A native of Sudbury, Ont., he is 44. 

Aigars Mironovics: Ice defenseman in 2000-01. He had three goals and three assists in 34 games. He played four pro seasons in the United States, then headed to Europe to play in 2001. A native of Riga, Latvia, he is 36.

Today in history: November 2

November 2 in Indianapolis hockey history

1957: Pierre Brillant posts his third consecutive 2-goal game to give the Chiefs a 5-2 victory at Fort Wayne. He had 6 goals and 3 assists in the first three games of the year, starting a season that would end in a Turner Cup championship. 

1978: Wayne Gretzky, Ed Mio and Peter Driscoll are sold to the Edmonton Oilers for a sum reportedly $850,000, which was supposed to keep the Racers afloat for the rest of the season. Four front-office staff members were also released. Team owner Nelson Skalbania was not present at the press conference, escorting the three players to Edmonton. Gretzky tallied three goals and three assists in eight games with the Racers. He would lead Edmonton to four Stanley Cups between 1983-88, and then also lead the Los Angeles Kings to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993. He would become the greatest scorer in professional hockey history. 

1979: Richard Brodeur shuts out the Fort Worth Texans and Alex McKendry scores 50 seconds into OT to give the Chex a 1-0 victory. It is the franchise's first shutout and first OT game.