Always now, I suppose, it will be an April night in Indianapolis, and Lonnie Loach will be 23 years old, slogging up ice one last time. Slogging up ice on dead legs like everyone's legs were dead by then, because the thing had gone on and on and it badly wanted an end.

And then here was Lonnie Loach, with the end on his stick.

One final rush, one final slow-motion breakaway, and then he was letting go a shot Indianapolis goalie Jimmy Waite -- who'd handled everything through the long night -- couldn't handle. The puck found the back of the net, the red light glared, and at last it was over.

Fort Wayne Komets 4, Indianapolis Ice 3. Game 7. Eighteen minutes and twenty seconds into overtime. A first-round IHL playoff series going to the K's over their most bitter rival, by the skinniest of

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