'Thank you': Here is Eric Levine's goodbye letter to Peoria Rivermen and to hockey

“Are you sad that your career is over?” That’s the question I’ve heard most since our heartbreaking loss to Roanoke in game 3 of the semifinals, Saturday, April 23, 2023. A game in which I came off the bench in relief to make 7 saves. My final one was a glove save on a 2-on-1 from Josh Nenadal coming down my right side where he kind of looked off the other player and was staring down low glove. He’s got probably their best shot on the team and I knew with us being down 4-3 with less than 5 minutes to go, if this goes in, it’s lights out and game over, season over, career over.

I dropped into the butterfly, extended my glove hand down towards the puck and caught it straight in the webbing of the glove and gave a little extra flare on the finish. It’s a save I’ll never forget because it’s quite literally the last time I’ll ever put my body on the line for Peoria. I made 3,875 saves over my Rivermen tenure, each and every save I can promise was cherished.

Minutes after (Peoria was eliminated by Roanoke in the SPHL semifinals), the handshakes concluded, one final salute to the amazing fans at Carver Arena, we all just sat in our locker room stalls and pondered what could have been, what we were so close to accomplishing. Completely devastated and emotionally torn apart, I took the jersey off and retired from hockey forever.

Let me take you back a decade earlier where I had just graduated from Robert Morris University in 2012 and finished inside the top 20 for NCAA career SV%, spent the playoffs in the AHL and almost won a Calder Cup as a Black Ace (the extra players pro playoff teams carry), attended an NHL development camp with the NY Rangers and an NHL main camp with the Nashville Predators where my goalie partner was future hall of famer Pekka Rinne.

I was riding high, aspirations set on chasing the pipe dream of one day playing in the NHL and committed to grinding out wherever my hockey journey would take me, and spoiler, I never in a million years thought it would lead me to Peoria, IL. 

I was just a kid who grew up playing AA hockey and wore the most mismatched set of goalie gear in juniors that my coach actually called me a “Rent-a-Goalie” which I took offense to at the time, but find hilarious now. I had no real goalie education, no real talent other than my athleticism and reflexes, coupled with long limbs and a surprisingly flexible body which I now use to do yoga.

I honestly don’t know how I kept advancing up the pyramid of hockey from where I started, and even now as a goalie coach, kids ask me how to “make it” and my answer is always the same — hard work and being at the right place at the right time. 

At the start of the 2013 season, I landed a spot in (ECHL) Toledo, where I was quickly cut and the head coach somehow knew of Jean-Guy Trudel and sent me to Peoria. I pulled into town late, like 1 or 2 a.m., and all I had was an address, 2401 Prairie Vista Rd.

As I drove into the apartment complex, I meandered around until I saw a door with 2401 on it, so I knocked, standing with my pillow and duffle bag, an old lady in a nightcap answered the door with a puzzled look on her face. I quickly realized it was indeed possible to have an apartment number that matches the clubhouse's address.

I apologized and found my way next door and met my two roommates, got a few hours sleep and we were on the road bright and early the next morning to Huntsville, Ala., to begin a 3-in-3 against Huntsville and the Mississippi RiverKings. I met Jean-Guy at the rink and he said he was excited to have me, heard great things, and I was going to be a big part of the team.

I was equally as excited because, although I felt like I had miles of “pro hockey experience already,” I still hadn’t played a minute of an actual game and had much to prove. He also told me I’d have Friday night off, let me get acclimated to the team, and then play Saturday. I was set to take it all in wearing my first-ever Rivermen jersey, and wow did that thing look sharp hanging in the locker room for my eyes to first see!

The beautiful retro colors and back then our logo was the half wheel with the cityscape inside, it was just so magical, it even had my name sewed on the back and everything. I enjoyed it all for 10 minutes until Guy looked over at me, nodded his head and I was off to the crease for my first professional hockey game, how cool right? My dream as a kid was finally here, and I quickly got shelled for 5 goals and we got blown out 8-1 or something, it was quite the welcome wagon.

I didn’t think I’d get cut on the road but I also didn’t leave anything to be desired and I know how ruthless this business is. Luckily he gave me another chance and started me Saturday and Sunday, and I played quite well, battled my butt off to earn a few road points and almost got my first win despite playing with like 15 skaters. How apropos that things come around full circle that my first and last professional games were eerily similar where I came off the bench 10 minutes into the game. I guess it shows the growth I’ve had to not give up 5 goals and do my job to try and give us a chance to win, battling all the way to my very final save. The only two people present at my first and last pro games were me and Jean-Guy Trudel.

It’s actually hard to wrap my head around all that has happened with the Peoria Rivermen from our first season in the SPHL to now. I had the privilege of seeing the development and intensity of a young Jean-Guy Trudel fresh off his playing career to take on coaching for a team he once played for. The old saying goes, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." My goodness he was intense back then, and somehow he’s even more intense now, he’s just learned how to manage his players better.

From the first practice I had with him I knew he was a special kind of coach in the way that he cares a whole lot about the game of hockey and is willing to pull from depths only few can reach to inject that passion into his team. I’ve played for, let’s say since I was 16 and started playing serious hockey, around 20 different head coaches, and nobody has ever showed up to the rink each and every day with more love for the game than Jean-Guy Trudel. It’s contagious being around him because he makes you aware of every single detail of the game both from a systems perspective and philosophically. He’s hard on guys but also fair.

As a player you can always respect a guy who tells you the truth, even if it’s not always what you want to hear, there’s no gray area with him. He’s said from Day One that this may not be the NHL, but it’s our NHL, and we should treat it as such. I would run through 10 layers of brick wall for him, he’s that good at what he does.

I knew he’d go on to accomplish all that he has with the Rivermen and bring the franchise overwhelming success for over a decade because it’s in his blood, it’s in Alec Hagaman’s blood, it’s in Mitch McPherson’s blood, it’s in Austin Wisely’s blood, it’s not just another stop on the hockey carousel, it’s about family.

Being a Peoria Rivermen is a culture, it’s about daily habits and learning to deal with having a coach who is both your hardest critic and biggest supporter. Some, if not most, players I played alongside couldn’t handle the yelling and screaming, but those tough enough to endure being called out for your mistakes learned how to be hockey players, not just people who play hockey and there’s a big difference, trust me. Hands down, beyond all of my personal accomplishments on the ice, the single greatest thing I’m proud of over my 6 seasons here is being a small piece of cultivating the importance of what it means to be a Rivermen and creating a successful locker room for so many to thrive in. 

I owe the entire organization all the way from Bart Rogers, Katie Pogeman, Andrew Cohen, etc., down to the coaches, trainers, behind the scenes staff, Dave Eminian, our amazingly supportive beat writer, all of them the most amount of respect. A younger version of Eric who used the Rivermen as a stepping stone to reach higher levels of hockey; I was so fortunate to have the chance to build my game to where I could find success in the ECHL, evening winning a championship with Newfoundland in 2019.

The older version of myself is indebted to the Rivermen for allowing me to be a staple in the locker room for the past three seasons, and witness so many incredible moments on and off the ice that changed me as a player and person. It became my hockey home, a true place of solitude. I saw Alec Hagaman have his gender reveal and simultaneously surprise propose to his girlfriend, Emily, on the Carver Arena ice -- by the way they had a girl.

I saw Mike Laidley do the same thing but get a boy. I got a shutout in the game that broke Jean-Guy Trudel’s all-time Rivermen coaching wins record at 234, and got to see Ben Oskroba and Cody Dion shower him with Gatorade at center ice as I was giving him a hug.

I later got to play in the game Ben came back for earlier this season to take part in his much-deserved farewell curtain call that COVID robbed him of. For those that don’t know how important having the right group of guys is to on-ice success, Ben was the best teammate any Rivermen player could have. I played in two of the most special games in our SPHL tenure; one to honor the late Bruce Saurs, who saved Rivermen hockey, and the other to raise money for victims of the hurricane that swept through the Washington area. Both ended in victory.

I saw a doctor break a hockey stick on the ice to use as a turnicate when a Huntsville player had his leg sliced open by an errant skate blade. I charged off the bench hand in hand with Michelle Novak, our athletic trainer who frantically kept the cut compressed with towels as people in the front row passed out in shock, one of the scariest moments I’ve ever been a part of.

I saw Mitch and Hags beat up more people than I’ll ever witness in my life and usually also find a way to get on the scoresheet the same game, they are two of the most dynamic players, and shocker, both homegrown talent.

I’ve played with some damn good goalie partners that I’m so proud to share the net with. I got to see Kyle Rank, who literally got traded to Peoria from Fayetteville for a paid hotel bill and bag of pucks, breaking the SPHL single season shutout and SV% record. He wasn’t the biggest, most technical, or most refined goalie, but wow did he know how to dial it in for games and make saves, he was an inspiration to watch.

I got to play with Martin Brodeur’s kid, Jeremy, and we started the season with points in 12 straight games, never conceding first place all the way until COVID canceled what could have been. I got to see Jack Berry come into the playoffs and win a do-or-die game 3 and go on to earn playoff MVP, playing out of his mind to steal Game 1 of the Finals.

I got to hand the Cup that I promised years earlier when I came out of retirement, to (assistant GM) Katie Pogeman at our championship ceremony, which just filled my heart and makes me smile to this day. She’s been working for the team since some of the current players were still having their parents tie their skates.

I got to smoke a (championship) cigar with my dad in the locker room in Roanoke, maybe the most special cigar we’ll share until we have one for the birth of my first child. I spent 40 hours stranded in the middle of nowhere during a trip back from Pensacola and somehow laughed more than I ever had because we were that close of a tight-knit family.

I was a small piece of a championship team and got to pour champagne over my best friends, parents, and a few random strangers I gave a lot of hugs to. I met my wife here in Peoria, something that has changed the course of my life forever. 

If you think baseball is romantic, try this on for size: In the 40th year of Peoria hockey, Game 4 of the Finals in 2021-22, J.M. Piotrowski who wears No. 40 scores the overtime winner and cements the Rivermen in the elite class of minor league hockey for winning 4 championships.

Two in the IHL, one in the ECHL, and one in the SPHL. I got to speak at our Championship Parade in front of thousands of fans and witness a banner raising, a moment I won’t ever forget for being both slightly drunk, nervous, and overly confident in my public speaking abilities. All in all, I look back at these and hundreds of other memories that put into perspective how lucky I am to play for Peoria as long as I did. This team has history, and being part of history is indescribable when my name sits alongside some great goalies and teams in this historic organization.

To answer the question if I’m sad to be retiring … I’ll miss it for sure. I’ll miss being with the guys every day and battling together. I’ll miss wearing the Rivermen Wheel and hearing the crowd cheer. I’ll miss the intensity of practice and the feeling of being anxious before every game. I’ll miss the pressure of performing and that feeling of being almost weightless when you absolutely dominate a game, it’s like floating on a cloud.

Heck I’ll even miss the times my parents would wake me up at 6 a.m. to drive me to practice before school because they were the best and sacrificed everything to give me a chance to play. I’ll miss all the bumps and bruises, all the laughs and friendships, all the bus hours spent together, the wins and losses, all the heartache and triumphant moments.

But am I sad? No. I’m simply grateful for the time I was given to play this amazing game in this magical place.

Besides, I feel like my career outreached my talent level so in the end, it’s more than I could ever have dreamed of. I guess I was just in the right place at the right time. 

To everybody associated with the Peoria Rivermen over the last decade, from the depths of my soul, thank you for everything.

— #3