Link roundup: Jim Waite back with Hawks & more

A few links from around the hockey world of interest to local hockey fans:

• Recently posted by WIBC: an interview with Fuel head coach Scott Hillman done by Ray Steele.
• The Chicago Blackhawks have a familiar face coming in as their goaltending coach -- Jim Waite, who played goal for the IHL Ice throughout the 1990s. 
• Former Indiana Ice assistant coach Adam Krug has been named the head coach at Adrian College, his alma mater. Adrian plays in the NCAA's Div. III. Krug had previously been slated to be an assistant coach for the Green Bay Gamblers. 
• Adam's younger brother, former Ice defenseman Torey Krug, talked about Independence Day with BostonBruins.com last week. 
• A few Independence Day links: THN says the best American team might be one that surprises you and lists the top 10 moments in American hockey history (#1 is an obvious one, and there's a glaring omission that's as big as a Squaw Valley).
• Thoughts & prayers go out to the Ottawa Senators and GM Bryan Murray in his battle with cancer. 
• The Detroit Red Wings featured former Ice coach and current Grand Rapids Griffins coach Jeff Blashill speaking to the team's prospects at development camp. Blashill won the Clark Cup with the Ice in 2009 and the AHL's Calder Cup in Grand Rapids in 2013. 

Links: Free agent frenzy

Whew! A pretty crazy start to the free agent period has leveled off a bit, but NHL stars and other players are moving.

Among movement of interest to local hockey fans:

• The ECHL listed its players who were given qualifying offers earlier this week. Teams retain the rights to qualified non-veterans for one year. Players not qualified or signed become free agents.   
• You can check out all the NHL free agent deals here. 
• The Chicago Blackhawks, parent club of the Indy Fuel, have signed a few organizational depth deals: goaltender Scott Darling, forward Cody Bass, forward Pierre-Cedric Labrie and defenseman Kyle Cumiskey. These will likely affect AHL Rockford, but it's possible we could see one or more of these players in Indy this season. Darling is a former Indiana Ice goaltender who had a 2.00 GAA with the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals last season. Bass and Labrie are veterans who bring toughness. All three played at the AHL level last season, and would be expected to do the same this year. Cumiskey has recently played in Sweden and is a veteran of 132 NHL games. 
• A handful of Indiana Ice alumni have shown up on the wire in addition to the aforementioned Darling. Shane Berschbach signed an AHL deal with Grand Rapids, the Red Wings' top affiliate. There, he'll play for coach Jeff Blashill at the third level -- Blashill coached Berschbach both with the Ice and at Western Michigan. Enforcer Joel Rechlicz signed a two-way deal with the Minnesota Wild. He is the Ice's first alum to play in the NHL. Also, former Ice forward Mike Embach signed an ECHL deal with Fort Wayne. He had 28 goals in the ECHL last season. 
• And for Ice alumni in the NHL: While the Boston Bruins' cap troubles and depth on defense might force them to trade a defenseman, Torey Krug is one of the core guys likely staying in Boston. Washington's spending spree landed John Carlson a new defense partner, as he'll likely be paired with new signing Brooks Orpik. 
• Of the 5 Indiana Ice alumni drafted on Saturday, two were already playing in the Canadian Major Junior ranks (Blake Siebenaler, Rinat Valiev), two are almost definitely headed to college (Josh Jacobs to Michigan State, Dwyer Tschantz to Cornell), and one has been open to playing either in college at North Dakota or in the OHL with Niagara. A New York Rangers blog says, citing unnamed sources, that Mantha is "close" to signing with Niagara, and Niagara's coach is confident Mantha will sign with the OHL team. Meanwhile, Siebenaler got the eye of E! as, well, just read it.
• In ECHL news, Bakersfield Condors coach Troy Mann is moving to the AHL to coach the Hershey Bears.
• A Junior Hockey News article written by an anonymous junior coach says the USHL is "just as good as all the major junior leagues." The article notes 51 USHL players picked in the draft. Needless to say, the opinion drew some give-and-take, including responses from Canada, and from publisher Joseph Kolodziej.

Krug named to NHL All-Rookie Team

Former Indiana Ice defenseman Torey Krug was named to the NHL's All-Rookie Team during the NHL Awards on Tuesday.

Torey Krug as a member of the Indiana Ice. 

Krug had a stellar rookie season with the Presidents Trophy champion Bruins, with 14 goals and 26 assists to total 40 points in 79 games. He was very solid in quarterbacking the Bruins' power play, with six goals and 19 points coming with the man advantage. Krug led rookie defensemen in power play goals, assists and points, and was third among rookie-defensemen in plus-minus with a +18 rating. He factored in on nearly two-fifths of his team's 50 power play goals. The Bruins had the NHL's third-best power play.

It was Krug's first full season in the NHL. He signed with the Bruins as a free agent in 2012 and played three regular-season games with the team through the end of the 2013 regular season, before being called up for the playoffs and helping lead the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final.

He ranks third in Bruins history for goals by a rookie defenseman, trailing only Ray Bourque and Greg Hawgood.

All-Rookie Team member Torey Krug

A 5-foot-9, 180-pound defenseman from Livonia, Mich., Krug had 47 points for the Indiana Ice in 2008-09. He helped lead the team to a Clark Cup championship, scoring the series-winning goal in the opening-round series' Game 5 against Cedar Rapids, and totaling seven points in the postseason. He went from the Ice to Michigan State, where he played two years and captained the Spartans, before joining the Bruins.

Torey isn't the only Krug to have a Clark Cup ring with the Ice. His older brother Adam was an assistant coach for this year's championship-winning Ice squad. Torey returned to Indianapolis and was on hand to drop the first puck before Game 4 of the Clark Cup Final this spring.

Krug is the second Indiana Ice player to receive an NHL All-Rookie honor. John Carlson, who played for the Ice in 2007-08, was named to the team in 2011 as a member of the Washington Capitals.

The rest of the All-Rookie team were Anaheim goaltender Frederik Andersen, Anaheim defenseman Hampus Lindholm, Tampa Bay forwards Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat, and Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon, the Calder Trophy winner.

Krug was fourth in the Calder Trophy voting, behind MacKinnon, Palat and Johnson. He was the highest-rated defenseman.

NHL.com release
Boston Bruins release

Friday link roundup

A few items of interest to local hockey fans have popped up in the last couple of days, so time for another link roundup.

• ICYMI, a couple of posts from yesterday: 
• The ECHL Indy Fuel have signed their first player, Pete Massar.
• Our post on Jeff Brown & several Ice personnel on the move. Lots of links from Ottawa on Brown heading to coach the OHL's Ottawa 67s. Associate coach Adam Krug is headed to a similar position with the Green Bay Gamblers. Defenseman Chris Martenet is also headed to the OHL's London Knights.
• The NHL Draft is a week away. Three players with Indiana Ice ties were rated in the top 100 by THN's Ryan Kennedy. Josh Jacobs is rated 43rd, 2012-13 Ice player Blake Siebenaler is rated 74th and defenseman Ryan Mantha was rated 85th. The Hockey Writers' Shawn Reznik has Jacobs rated 32nd in his top 60. Several other current and former USHL players are also on the list. THW's profile on Jacobs is here.
• The United States of Hockey's Chris Peters has an interesting blog post on USA Hockey participation around the nation. Indiana's 5,922 players ranks 21st in the nation, but the growth (2.1%) is higher than the national average.
• Indiana Ice 2008-09 Clark Cup champion-turned-Boston Bruin Torey Krug has a new website. Check it out at ToreyKrug.com.
• A few NHL items with potential local interest: 
• It's been known for some time that the Washington Capitals will host the 2015 Winter Classic. We now know their opponent - the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks will be playing in their second Winter Classic -- they hosted the second one at Wrigley Field -- and third outdoor game. The Hawks also hosted Pittsburgh in a Stadium Series game last season at Soldier Field.
• Boston Bruins assistant Geoff Ward is taking a head coaching job in Germany, leaving a vacancy on Claude Julien's bench. One candidate widely mentioned to be moving up? Former IHL Ice player and head coach Bruce Cassidy, who is the head coach of the Bruins' AHL affiliate in Providence. Cassidy also has NHL head coaching experience with the Washington Capitals.
• The Carolina Hurricanes hired Bill Peters as their head coach on Thursday. Peters had previously coached in the Blackhawks' organization in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs.
• The 2014-15 NHL schedule will be announced Sunday. 

• The Pan Am Pavilion, where the Indiana Ice played a significant number of home games the last two seasons (as well as a handful of games in previous seasons) is officially closed. The site is slated for redevelopment into a two-tower hotel. Here was their Facebook post on the closing: "This is how it ends. The funeral dirge for Pan Am pavilion, a building that has seen 30 years of hockey figure skating and even curling pass through its doors and onto the ice of two rinks. The altogether unimpressive brick and mortar clothing metal girders has undoubtedly held the echoes of many of you for the last time. From the echo of private conversation to the constant hum of the compressors the building will sit silent because of all the life taken from it. All that life belonging to you our customers, from the die hard, week in and out attendees to those who visited once in a great while you will all be missed. Because in the end Pan Am the building was just that; a building. It was the great people whom passed through those doors that gave it life. It’s from the bottom of our hearts and with the most sincere offering we the staff say thank you. Thank you for bearing through it all with us, and most importantly thank you for helping us chase a dream and afford the blessing of working in a field where our hearts passion was the main focus of our livelihood."

Indy hockey links & updates

A few links and news items with ties to hockey in Indianapolis.

Indy hockey links 4/28

A potpourri of links & stories about items of interest to Indianapolis and Central Indiana hockey fans.

Indy hockey-related links

A few potpourri items for the week: Looking back at the Ice-Green Bay series, a few Jeff Blashill Coach of the Year links, and items on Torey Krug & Paul Carey, two Ice alumni competing for the Stanley Cup; and another Ice alum scores his first pro goal.

This date in Indianapolis hockey history: April 18

April 18 in Indianapolis hockey history. 

This date in Indianapolis hockey history: April 12

April 12 in Indianapolis hockey history
2010: The Ice emphatically tie their first-round series with Cedar Rapids, winning 6-1 at Pan Am Plaza. Max Cook (2G, A), Nic Dowd (G, 2A) and Kevin Goumas (3A) all tally three-point nights. Casey DeSmith makes 41 saves in net. 
2008: John Kemp assists on three goals and both Jake Skjodt and Paul Carey post a goal and two assists as the Ice rout the Chicago Steel 7-2 at the Coliseum to even their first-round playoff series at 1-1. Scott Darling stops 25 shots in net. The joy would be short-lived, as the Steel would win the next two games in Chicago to win the series 3-1. 
2005: The Indiana Ice host their first playoff game, but fall 5-4 to Cedar Rapids when Phil Axtell scores at 4:16 of overtime to clinch a three-game sweep for the Riders. Tomas Klempa scores twice for the Ice as they rally from a three-goal deficit to take a third-period lead. Future Red Wing Justin Abdelkader had two assists, including a helper on the game-tying goal in the third for Cedar Rapids.
2000: An epic - and brutal - series-clinching 7-0 win for the Ice over Tulsa at the Coliseum. Jamie Morris posts the shutout in his first playoff start in the winner-take-all Game 5. But the Ice get rolling quickly and build an insurmountable lead. In the third period, everything breaks loose as the Ice and Oilers combine for a CHL playoff record 312 penalty minutes - nearly all in the final period. The Ice's Mike Berger scores two goals against his former team.
1994: Sergei Krivokrasov tallies a goal and three assists to help the Ice beat Milwaukee 5-2 and close the season with a 28-46-7 record. Shawn Byram had two assists. Karl Dykhuis and Rob Cimetta also had two-point nights. Chris Rogles had to make 43 saves in net.
1991: Martin Desjardins scores at 12:22 of overtime, unassisted, to give the Ice a 1-0 lead over Fort Wayne in the playoffs. He also scored the game-tying goal late in the second. Brian Noonan also scored for the Ice, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit and used a 37-save performance by Jim Waite.
1986: Mike Zanier posts a solid game in net and Paul Skjodt scores the shootout winner as the Checkers win 2-1 in Kalamazoo, helping them clinch an IHL playoff spot. 
1977: The Racers take a 2-0 lead over the Cincinnati Stingers in the first-round playoff series, winning 7-2 at Riverfront Coliseum. Reggie Thomas and Mark Lomenda score 43 seconds apart in the first period. Rene LeClerc, Nick Harbaruk and Michel Parizeau all score in the second to give the Racers a 5-0 edge. Thomas would finish the night with two goals and an assist. Michel Dion stops 30 shots.

Happy birthday to ... 
Al Dewsbury: A big, imposing, 6-2, 205-pound defenseman who played parts of four seasons with the Capitals from 1946-50 -- splitting time with the Detroit Red Wings in each of those years. He played 159 games in the Circle City, with 29 goals and 56 assists (and 2-7-9 in 10 playoff games). In his final season with the Caps, he had 15 goals, 22 assists and 76 PIMs in 50 games from the blueline. He also had seven points in the playoffs that season as the Caps swept their way to the Calder Cup -- and then played four playoff games with the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup. He was dealt to Chicago after the 1949-50 season, and played six more full seasons in the NHL with the Blackhawks. He had 30 goals, 78 assists and 365 PIMs in 378 NHL games. A native of Goderich, Ontario, he was born in 1926. He passed away in 2006.
Dave Hanson: Member of the Checkers from 1982-84 -- playing a full 80-game season during the 1982-83 Adams Cup year, and one more game the following season. He had 18 goals, 21 assists and 285 PIMs in the blue-and-orange. He also had a goal and three assists in the 1983 playoff run.  The latter isn't shocking if one looks at the name -- Dave is one of the three hockey-playing "Hanson Brothers" from the movie Slap Shot! (but the only one whose given name was Hanson), and his career actually did begin in Johnstown, PA with a team in the then-pro NAHL in 1974. No word on whether he actually put the foil on for the Checkers, but he played 136 NHL/WHA games, with the Minnesota Fighting Saints, New England Whalers, Birmingham Bulls and Minnesota North Stars, tallying 562 PIMs in those games. He retired from playing hockey after the 1983-84 season. A native of Cumberland, Wisconsin, he is 60.
Dan Miele: Played 55 games for the Checkers in 1985-86, the last of his five pro seasons. He had five goals and 11 assists. A native of LaSalle, Quebec, he is 52.
Torey Krug: Captain of the Ice in 2008-09, Krug had 10 goals and 37 assists in 59 games that season. He also had a goal and six assists in 13 postseason games -- the goal being one of the biggest in franchise history. He scored the third-period game-winner in Game 5 against Cedar Rapids that sent the Ice into the next round. The Ice went on to win the Clark Cup that season. Krug had 83 points in three seasons at Michigan State University before signing a free-agent deal with the Boston Bruins in 2012. He emerged as a mainstay with the Bruins in the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs, with four goals and two assists in the postseason run as the Bruins got to the finals. A native of Livonia, Michigan, he is 23.
Austin Ortega: Forward who scored 24 goals and assisted on 18 for the Ice over 44 games in 2012-13. He finished the season with Fargo, and was nearly a point-a-game player as the Force got to the Clark Cup Finals. Ortega recently completed his freshman season at Nebraska-Omaha, with 19 points in 35 games. A native of Escondido, California, he is 20.