The Peoria Rivermen embark on the last stage of their quest for the Southern Professional Hockey League championship Thursday night at the Peoria Civic Center.
The third-seeded Rivermen face off against the upstart Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs in Game 1 of Presidents’ Cup Finals at 7:15 p.m. at the Peoria Civic Center. Peoria holds home-ice advantage, with Game 2 set for the same time Friday.
The Rivermen are looking to hoist the SPHL trophy for the first time after falling in the finals three years in a row from 2016-18. A title would be Peoria’s fourth overall and first since claiming the ECHL’s Kelly Cup in 2000. The franchise also won the International Hockey League’s Turner Cup in 1985 and 1991.
Peoria is led by SPHL Most Valuable Player Alec Baer, who led the league in scoring with 80 points on 26 goals and a club-record 54 assists. He tops all SPHL skaters in playoff scoring with five goals and eight points, just ahead of teammates Lordanthony Grissom and Dunlap native Alec Hagaman with seven points apiece.
Rivermen winger Marcel Godbout earned the league’s Rookie of the Year honor after leading the SPHL with 33 goals, while Hagaman ranked second in scoring during the regular season (71 points). Godbout and JM Piotrowski have six points apiece in the postseason. Goalie Jack Berry has seen the bulk of playing time in the net during the playoffs.
Along with Hagaman, the Rivermen also feature local products in Peoria’s own Mitchell McPherson and defenseman Austin Wisely of Chillicothe. The roster also includes three other Illinoisans in Villa Park’s Zach Wilkie, goalie Eric Levine of Wheeling, and Mokena’s Jordan Ernst, who scored the winning goal late in Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Quad City in the decisive Game 3 of the semifinals.
The Rivermen were pushed to the brink in each of the first two series, advancing past Pensacola in the opening round before edging the Storm to reach the finals. Roanoke, which claimed the eighth and final playoff spot despite a losing record in the regular season, upset top-seeded Knoxville in the first round before sweeping No. 2 Huntsville.
Game 3 is scheduled for Monday night at the Berglund Center in Roanoke, Va., with Game 4 to follow the next night if necessary. Should the series go the distance, Game 5 would face off at 7:15 p.m. on May 5 at the Civic Center.
