'Another shot': Rivermen bring back veteran goal scorer and add two players from Europe
PEORIA — Jordan Ernst has always been a go-to guy for the Peoria Rivermen.
Now the high-scoring veteran winger is coming back to the six-time SPHL regular-season champions for another shot at a President's Cup.
"My first year in Peoria is what brought my blood back for the game," said Ernst, 26. "The guys are so tight-knit here. There's memories from every season, people I've played with from every season, that I just can't forget."
Ernst signed with the Rivermen on Monday, along with a pair of European players, left wing Vadim Vasjonkin, and big defenseman Renat Dadadzhanov.
The 6-foot, 201-pound Ernst — one of the most popular players of Peoria's SPHL era — has played a sniper's role for the Rivermen, netting 45 goals and 26 assists with a plus-15 rating in 100 regular-season games over parts of three seasons.
The Mokena native is a force in postseason play, with eight goals and four assists in 15 Rivermen playoff games, including four game-winning goals and four on the power play.
In fact, he has 10 game-winners and 17 power-play goals in 115 total games for Peoria.
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He led the Rivermen to the 2021-22 SPHL President's Cup championship, their first title in 22 years, and was a key part of the team's regular-season title finish last season.
That championship defense fell short in the semifinals against Roanoke last spring, though, and it cemented Ernst's determination to return.
"It was a stinger for sure," Ernst said. "It made me want to come back, it made a lot of us want to come back. We want another shot at a title. You never know when it's going to be your last year, so we'll be hungry and go after it."
Ernst scored 22 goals and added 14 assists in 50 games, with a plus-8 rating, last season. A prolific shooter, he was fifth in the SPHL in shots attempted with 199, and 11 times had games with seven shots or more.
He also led all SPHL players in insurance goals with seven, and overall was third in scoring among all Peoria forwards.
He carries a next-level pedigree, having played 93 ECHL games and appeared in an AHL game.
"This will be my first actual training camp with the Rivermen," Ernst said. "I've always gone to ECHL or AHL camps and then arrived here, but this year I'm coming directly in and getting ready to roll for a great season."
He spent the offseason training, and coaching kids in a hockey camp operated by Christian Hmura, the occasional Rivermen assistant coach who was recently hired by the New York Rangers as skills and performance development coach.
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"It was very rewarding, on the ice all day," Ernst said. "And I had a lot of family time. My brother had a daughter in April, I got to spend a lot of time with her."
And now it's back to Peoria to join his hockey brothers.
"These bonds, they bring me back to the rink to play," Ernst said. "From what I know of our roster, I like it. A lot of core guys who want to bring another trophy here, and some new guys who should be hungry."
The European connection
Vadim Vasjonkin is a 6-foot-3, 201-pound left wing from Tallinn, Estonia, who has an extensive history with his national team on the international stage. The 27-year-old was rescued by the Rivermen from a horrific Vermilion County team that folded 30 games into the season last year. He joined Peoria for six games and played well, with two goals and three assists, to earn a spot on the playoff roster.
He appeared in three of the five Rivermen playoff games and notched an assist.
Renat Dadadzhanov is a 6-foot-3, 216-pound from Moscow, Russia.
He played three seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, with Shawinigan and Val-d'Or Foreurs, where he combined for one goal and 17 assists with a minus-19 rating in 110 games. He last played in 2020-21, for Laurentian University, in Canada.
"I’m a shutdown defenseman," Dadadzhanov told the Sudbury Star when he joined the college team in 2020. "I play a simple game and love to play physical. My biggest impact is my physicality and penalty killing."
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: How the Peoria Rivermen reeled in a popular veteran scoring ace and two Europeans
