This day in Indianapolis hockey history: July 2

Happy birthday to ...
Randy Burchell: Goaltender who played five games for the Racers in 1976-77. He was 1-0-0 with a 3.53 GAA. He played two seasons professionally, spending much of his time with the Racers' affiliate in Mohawk Valley. A native of Montreal, he is 59.
Ryan Huska: Ice center from 1995-98 and former captain. He played 188 games for the Ice, with 39 goals, 31 assists and 230 penalty minutes. He played one game in the NHL for the Blackhawks in 1997-98. He played five professional seasons after finishing his junior career as a three-time Memorial Cup champion in Kamloops in 1995. He played three years with the Ice and two with the AHL's Lowell Lock Monsters. He began coaching in 2002 with the Kelowna Rockets in the WHL, and has been there ever since, matriculating to head coach in 2007. He won the WHL's championship in 2009. He has a career coaching record of 303-164-37, including 109-29-8 the last two years. A native of Cranbrook, BC, he is 39.
James Kohout: Goaltender who played nine games for the Ice in 2004-05, going 1-4-1 with a 4.82 GAA. He played the next two seasons in the Tier III EJHL. A native of Acton, Mass., he is 27.

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

This date in Indianapolis hockey history: April 29

Today's edition sees Red Laurence score with one second left in overtime to give the Checkers a pivotal win in the 1983 Adams Cup Final, the 1996 Ice season coming to a close, and the 1976 Racers leaving the ice to a standing ovation despite a 6-0 loss. Also, birthdays to former Racer Dean Magee, former Checker 40-goal scorer George Servinis, and former Ice goaltender Marc D'Amour.

Today in history: July 2

Three birthdays to celebrate today

Randy Burchell: Goaltender who played in five games for the Racers in 1976-77. He had a 1-0-0 mark and a 3.53 GAA in 136 minutes of action. He also registered an assist. He played two pro seasons, primarily in the minors with the Racers' affiliate in Mohawk Valley. A native of Montreal, he is 56. 

Ryan Huska: Center who played three seasons with the Ice from 1995-98. After a long junior career in Kamloops, Huska began his pro career with the Ice in 1995. He played 188 games for the Ice, totaling 39 goals, 31 assists and 230 PIMs. He was a part of the Ice's division championship team in 1997. He also played one game for the Chicago Blackhawks in 1997-98. He was Chicago's third-round pick in 1993. After his stint with the Ice, he played two more years in the AHL -- one in Lowell, one in Springfield -- before retiring as a player. In 2002, he began coaching as an assistant with the WHL's Kelowna Rockets, and matriculated to the head coaching position in 2007. The Rockets competed in the Memorial Cup tournament four times with Huska either as an assistant or head coach, including winning the Canadian national junior championship in 2004. His teams have gone 163-104-19 during his tenure as head coach and won the 2009 WHL title. Some of the players he's worked with in Kelowna include Luke Schenn, Alex Edler, Tyler Myers and Shea Weber. A native of Cranbrook, BC, he is 36. 

James Kohout: Goaltender who played nine games for the Ice in 2004-05, their inaugural season. He had a 1-4-1 mark and a 4.82 GAA. A native of Acton, Mass., he is 24.