'I cherish it': Rivermen set SPHL home record in finale, captain says farewell and playoffs set

PEORIA — The Peoria Rivermen took care of business on their home ice, then took care of the fans who made unprecedented domination at Carver Arena possible as the 2023-24 SPHL regular-season finale unfolded.

The Rivermen set an SPHL record with their 24th victory of the season on home ice, and with it a record for best home-ice win percentage (.911) in their 42-year franchise history, a 2-1 decision over Quad City in front of 5,183.

The Rivermen won at home for the 13th consecutive game and closed with an 18-1-1 run on Carver Arena ice. That big crowd saw Peoria-born captain Alec Hagaman skate out and wave in salute on a night he scored the game-winning goal in the final regular-season home game of his long pro career.

Hagaman started the night with a pre-game ceremonial faceoff in which his daughter, 6-year-old Adley, dropped the puck for him. He finished the night by leading the team through the grandstand and into the arena concourse to meet and greet fans for autographs and pictures.

"For me, I had the big sendoff here at the end of last season, and it was very emotional," Hagaman said. "Circumstances changed and I ended up back on the ice this season. I'm glad it worked out that way. When the season gets late, it feels like everything speeds up, you can feel time running out, and for me, it was running out on my career."

Hagaman and his family will move to Wisconsin this summer, and he won't play again. Between Saturday and moving day, he'll have one final postseason run with Peoria.

"This was a great crowd tonight, we felt them," Hagaman said. "Playing here, with crowds giving us that energy, it feeds us, helps us build the record we have here. They are a part of it.

"Playing in Carver Arena just feels special for us. For me even more. I grew in Peoria watching this team play on this ice. When I step on that ice I cherish it. It's been 10 years, and I still feel that way when I play in here."

Box score: Rivermen 2, Quad City 1

The numbers behind the record

The Rivermen completed an incredible season Saturday when they closed their home schedule with just one regulation loss all season. It's unknown if any pro team has ever gone undefeated at home over an entire season. But Peoria came close.

The only Rivermen regulation loss at Carver Arena was a 3-2 decision to Huntsville on Jan. 14. The other three losses were after regulation in their 24-1-3 final record. Those included a 4-3 overtime loss to Quad City on Nov. 3, a 5-4 shootout loss to Evansville on Dec. 22, and a 4-3 shootout loss to Huntsville on Jan. 12.

Peoria never lost two straight games on home ice. And it hasn't lost a home game in 83 days.

"That home record of 24-1-3, it's what we should be here," Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel said. "Every time. Every year. We feed off the crowds and the comfort level, and we're a very hard team to beat here."

How 2-1 happened

Braydon Barker, a defenseman who shifted to wing during the season and was excellent there, shifted back to defense on Saturday and gave the Rivermen a 1-0 lead at 4:59 of the first period.

Hagaman sent a wrister from the high slot, and Barker put a rebound from the right post past goaltender Bailey Brkin. It was a power play goal, earned when Quad City winger Nicola Levesque drew a five-minute major penalty for delivering an elbow to Rivermen winger Ryan Nolan's head 25 seconds after the opening faceoff.

Hagaman delivered the game-winner at 4:56 of the second period when he skated full speed around the back of the Quad City net and buried a wraparound past Brkin at the left post.

The Rivermen built a 25-6 shooting edge before Quad City got untracked and got on the board with its 12th shot of the game, a goal from defenseman Doug Blaisdell at 11:12.

Rivermen goaltender Nick Latinovich shut them down the rest of the way.

Quad City pulled Brkin for an extra attacker with two minutes left, and Hagaman appeared on his way to an empty-net goal with a clear chance from the blueline. But his stick was broken — so he had to drop his stick on the ice and settle for kicking the puck toward the Quad City end.

The Rivermen finished 11-2-2 against Quad City this season, although Saturday's finale was no thing of beauty. Both teams can play better than they did.

The Rivermen were already mathematically locked into second place and had nothing to really play for. Quad City, though, had a lot to play for. A win would have put them in a first-round series with Fayetteville. Instead, their loss put them in a playoff opener with defending champion Roanoke.

"We won, but it wasn't that great," Trudel said. "Our guys are better than this, we can play faster and with more energy."

SPHL playoff picture

The Rivermen settled into the No. 2 seed in the SPHL postseason lineup, closing out the season in second place with a 37-14-5 record for 79 points. They face No. 7 Pensacola team in a best-of-3 first-round series for the third consecutive postseason. Birmingham finished first at 85 points, Roanoke third at 74, then Fayetteville (68), Huntsville (67), Quad City (65), Pensacola (54) and Evansville (50). Macon and Knoxville missed the playoffs.

• Thursday: Game 1, Rivermen at Pensacola, Pensacola Bay Center, 7:05 p.m.

• Saturday: Game 2, Pensacola at Rivermen, Carver Arena, 7:15 p.m.

• Sunday: Game 3 (if needed), Pensacola at Rivermen, Carver Arena, 5:15 p.m.

Tickets are $26 for glass row seats; $21 for lower bowl premium; $15 for Pilot House, and $14 upper bowl.

Individual playoff game tickets are on sale now by calling the Rivermen (676-1040) at their Carver Arena offices, or in person at the Civic Center box office (open only Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.) or 90 minutes prior to game time.

The other series include: No. 1 Birmingham vs No. 8 Evansville; No. 3 Roanoke vs No. 6 Quad City; No. 4 Fayetteville vs No. 5 Huntsville.

River Readings

The Rivermen finished their 28-game home schedule Saturday with an average attendance of 3,972. That's a 21% increase over last season, and the second straight season the team has shown an attendance increase of at least 20%. At 3,972 per game this season, the Rivermen gate has grown by 45% since the 2021-22 season. … Rivermen captain Alec Hagaman reached 50 points for the sixth season with the Rivermen. … The Rivermen will pack up quickly and bus to Pensacola on Sunday for their first-round series against the Ice Flyers. … Sunday at 2 p.m. central time is the SPHL deadline for final rosters. … Rivermen veteran center JM Piotrowski missed Saturday's finale as he served a one-game SPHL suspension for an elbowing incident in Friday's game at Quad City. … The league's top two teams — the Rivermen and Birmingham — finished a combined 46-4-6 on home ice this season. ... The Washington High School wrestling state champion team was honored on the ice between periods Saturday. … Pekin's high school hockey team was honored on the ice for its back-to-back state downstate Illinois championship between periods.

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 X.com @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria Rivermen hockey sets SPHL record in finale, playoffs set