Indianapolis Ice

The Indianapolis Ice were a mainstay in Indiana's capital city during the 90s and early 00s. They started play at the Fairgrounds Coliseum for the 1988-89 season in the IHL, filling the void left by the Checkers departure from the hockey scene.

The Ice started out hot, winning 53 of 82 games en route to a 1990 Turner Cup championship in only their second season under the coaching of Darryl Sutter. Their next couple of seasons were notable as a young Dominik Hasek spent time in Indianapolis due to the team's affiliation with Chicago. Lots of other big leaguers also got their start in Indy including Tony Hrkac, Ethan Moreau, and Brian Noonan. The team was also coached by Bruce Cassidy as well as another Sutter brother, Duane, in the late 90s. 

The Ice would drop down to the CHL for the 1990-00 season to save on salaries and the IHL was looking more unstable (it would fold in 2001). The Ice would again find success early on, winning the league in 2000. They would spent 5 seasons in the CHL before the team would fold.