Rychel, Peluso, And A Missing Cup

Hockey has a boatload of strange tales that can be told throughout its colourful history, but the photo above of the IHL's Indianapolis Ice celebrating with the Turner Cup in 1990 atogfter they swept the Muskegon Lumberjacks nearly was the last time that trophy was seen. Some may think that's hyperbole considering that the Stanley Cup has been found in all sorts of weird places, but two up-and-coming NHL players who were skating with that Ice that season nearly cost the IHL its championship trophy. How, you ask? Let's find out!

It should be noted that the Ice were one of the best teams in the IHL in the 1989-90 season as they finished the campaign with a 53-21-8 record for 114 points - just two points back of the IHL-leading Muskegon Lumberjacks. Coached by Darryl Sutter, the Ice surrendered a league-low 237 goals in 82 games - 97 goals better than Muskegon - while having no players in the top-ten for goals, assists, or points. Just as he played and coached in the NHL, Sutter's team was a defensive behemoth en route to top spot in the West Division.

The Ice's roster was impressive when one considers the incredible NHL talent that a lot of the players would become. Brian Noonan led the team with 40 goals and 76 points, Bob Bassen was solid on both sides of the puck, Bruce Cassidy and Jim Playfair were the team's top-producing defenders, and the tougher portions of the game were handled by Warren Rychel's 374 PIMs and Mike Peluso's 279 PIMs. Some of the other notable names on that roster included Mike Eagles, Cam Russell, Mike Stapleton, and Jimmy Waite who all skated in the NHL.

We're not here to speak of Indianapolis' 4-1 series win over Peoria or their 4-1 series win over the Salt Lake Golden Eagles. Their sweep over the IHL's best in the Muskegon Lumberjacks likely surprised many as they allowed just nine goals in the four games while scoring 17, but that's not even the biggest story from that championship. Instead, the story we want involves two men from the paragraph above who nearly caused the IHL a great deal of embarrassment.

From the April 18, 1998 edition of the Winnipeg Free Press, here's that story involving Warren Rychel, Mike Peluso, and the Turner Cup from what sounds like a crazy night on the town in May 1990!

Imagine being Rychel and Peluso who were celebrating their win and expecting the Turner Cup to arrive at the next bar only for it to never arrive. How do you tell you Darryl Sutter that you gave the Turner Cup to two guys who stole it? How do you tell your teammates, who earned a day with the Turner Cup, and the league who granted this privilege that the championship trophy was stolen?

On the other side of the coin, who are the two goofs who stole the Turner Cup from two of the toughest hombres to skate in the IHL? Moreover, who gets the idea to melt down the trophy in an effort to extract the silver from the award? They could have claimed they had found it, perhaps been given a reward, and all would have been fine. Instead, they dropped off the somewhat-charred-and-melted Turner Cup at the front door of the bar from where they stole it. Wild!

The good news is that the Peoria Rivermen were able to hoist a non-melted, non-charred Turner Cup in 1991 when they defeated the Fort Wayne Komets in six games to win the IHL championship. The Ice would never return to the Turner Cup Final after that 1990 championship, and it might be for good reason as Jim Playfair also broke the Turner Cup by falling down a set of stairs just days before Rychel and Peluso gave it away to a couple of amateur smelters. Karma has a way of setting the world on the right path again, right?

The only thing missing from this story is a picture of the Turner Cup after our two metalsmiths tried to extract the silver. I'd love to know what it looked like. If you know of such a photo, I'd love to see it!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!