August 11 in Indianapolis hockey history

Happy birthday to … 

Connie Dion: Capitals goaltender in the 1944-45 season. He played 39 games for the team, with three shutouts and a 3.10 GAA. Dion played 38 NHL games from 1943-45, and had a long minor-league career that lasted through 1951. The hockey arena in Asbestos, Quebec is named for him. A native of St. Remi de Tinquic, Quebec, he was born in 1918. He passed away in 2014.  

Mike Vellucci: Defenseman who played 12 games for the Ice in 1988-89. He had a goal and two assists and 43 PIM for the team that year. The Whalers’ seventh-round pick in 1984, Vellucci played two NHL games for Hartford in 1987-88. He played in the IHL, AHL, ECHL and Colonial Hockey Leagues through 1992, and again in 1994-95. He was the head coach of the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers from 2001 to 2014, winning the OHL title in 2007. He is now the assistant general manager and director of hockey operations for the Carolina Hurricanes. A native of Farmington, Mich., he is 51.

Jamie Spencer: One of a handful of Hoosiers to play hockey in his home state, Spencer suited up for the Ice for one game in 1995-96. He played the majority of that year in the ECHL with the Columbus Chill — where he scored 23 goals — and also played the following year in the AHL with the Baltimore Bandits. He came to the Ice after a four-year career at Wisconsin. A native of Carmel, he is 44.

Adam Phillips: Ice defenseman in 2009-10 who returned to Indy with the Fuel in 2016-17. He had a goal and 11 assists in 47 games for the Ice. He went from the Ice to a four-year career at UMass-Amherst, which he completed in 2014. He played 2014-15 with Stockton in the ECHL, and 2015-16 with Kalamazoo, and 2016-17 with Norfolk before coming to the Fuel. He had two goals and 12 assists with the Fuel in 30 games. He had 23 goals and 50 points in 124 college games, and has 21 goals and 46 assists in 168 ECHL games. A native of Farmington Hills, Mich., he is 27.