Thursday, June 30, 2011

Today in history: June 30

We close out the month with a quartet of birthdays

Ron Harris: Defenseman who played with the Capitols in their short-lived eight-game run in 1963. He played several seasons in the minors before becoming an NHL fixture after the 1967 expansion, when he played with the Oakland Seals, four years with the Red Wings, and four more years spent with the Flames and Rangers. All in all, he had 20 goals and 91 assists in 476 NHL games. He retired during the 1975-76 season after a knee injury ended his career and later spent several years in coaching, matriculating to associate coach with the Quebec Nordiques in the mid-1980s.  A native of Verdun, Quebec, he is 69.

Ron Sanko: Right wing who played nine games for the Checkers in their final 1986-87 season. He had two goals and one assist. They would be the only nine games of his North American pro career. He was signed after four years in the OHL, the last with the Kitchener Rangers. A native of Windsor, Ontario, he is 46.

Jamie Wansbrough: Right wing who played 10 games for the Checkers in their final 1986-87 season, tallying three goals and three assists. He also played 23 games in Germany that year, his only professional season after four high-scoring years at Bowling Green. He had three straight 30-goal seasons at BGSU before graduating in 1986. A native of Toronto, he is 48.

Craig Fisher: Ice center who had a huge scoring year in his one season in Indianapolis. He tallied 53 goals and 40 assists in 1994-95, leading the Ice in scoring by more than 20 points that year. Fisher's 53 goals were the most scored in a season by an IHL Ice player, and one of seven 50-goal seasons that have been tallied by any hockey player in Indianapolis in the city's history. The next year, he would play for the Orlando Solar Bears and have an even bigger season, scoring a whopping 74 goals and 56 assists. He was drafted in the third round by the Flyers in 1988 and played 12 NHL games with Philadelphia, Winnipeg and Florida between 1989-97. He played nine seasons in the minors and one in Europe between 1990-99, scoring 20 goals eight times and 30+ goals six times. He retired after suffering a concussion in 1999 while playing for the AHL Rochester Americans. Fisher also scored 59 goals in two years with Miami University in college before finishing in 1989. A native of Oshawa, Ontario, he is 41.

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