Happy birthday to …
Roger Lafrieniere: Defenseman who played for the short-lived Capitols team in 1963. He had one assist in the team’s eight games as the Capitols, and three goals and 24 assists in 66 overall games that season. He played 13 pro seasons from 1962-75, nearly all in the minors. He played 13 NHL games — three with the Red Wings in 1962-63, and 10 with the Blues 10 years later. A native of Montreal, he is 75.
Rick Dorman: Right wing who played for the Checkers in 1984-85, their first IHL season. He had five goals and 20 assists in 80 games, as well as 263 penalty minutes. He played nine pro seasons, including a 30-goal season in the IHL in 1978-79, but he was primarily an enforcer, racking up triple-digit PIM in each year of his career, including a whopping 475 in the 1977-78 IHL season. A native of Winnipeg, he is 62.
Sergei Kukushkin: One of two NHL draftees on the original Indiana Ice team, he played 19 games with the Ice in 2004-05, with one goal and two assists. The Dallas Stars’ seventh-round pick in 2004, he spent just one year in North America — also playing part of that season in the Tier III EJHL — before heading back to Russia. He played in the KHL for Dynamo Minsk in 2008-09, with four goals in 45 games. A native of Minsk, Belarus, he is 32.
Alex Handy: Forward who played 38 games for the Ice from 2007-09. He had four goals and four assists. He went from the Ice to play two seasons at Div. III Wisconsin-Stevens Point. A native of Carmel, he is 28.
3,319 Responses