Trade for a goalie, unexpected return of an MVP gives Peoria Rivermen two elite pieces

PEORIA — The Peoria Rivermen said goodbye to their longtime veteran goaltender, Eric Levine, over the summer, as he slid into retirement. They also thought they said goodbye to their top center, Alec Baer.

Well, the SPHL franchise made a move to bring in Levine's replacement with a trade late Sunday night, and got Baer to come back for another season, signing him as a free agent.

Peoria also acquired goaltender Nick Latinovich from the Macon Mayhem in exchange for defenseman Jake Hamilton. It's a big-time trade of two of the league's top players at their positions. And Baer, the SPHL MVP in 2021-22, is a top-five scorer in the league making an unexpected return.

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It adds up to quite a boost for Peoria's 2023-24 roster.

"Jake gave us his heart and soul while he was here," Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel said. "He was among the best defensemen in this league, a player who could shut down opponents, defend his teammates when needed. He's shown he can play at the ECHL level, and we always felt fortunate to have him. It's hard to part with a guy like that, but to get a goaltender as special as (Latinovich) you know you're going to lose a really good player."

Hamilton played for the Rivermen in their No. 1 defense pairing and was among the league's best blueliners. The fifth-year pro opened his rookie season with Peoria in 2018-19, with 4 goals and 12 assists and a plus-29 rating in 44 games. He returned in 2019-20 and added three goals and 12 assists in 29 games, while earning two ECHL call-ups to Jacksonville and Kansas City.

Hamilton declined an invitation to play for Pensacola in 2020-21, sitting out the season while the Rivermen were among half the SPHL franchises who did not operate because of COVID restrictions. He came back in 2021-22 and spent the season in the ECHL with Adirondack, scoring three goals in 33 games there.

Then he returned to the Rivermen last season and played 21 games plus the playoffs after spending eight games on a call-up to ECHL Norfolk.

Who is Nick Latinovich?

Latinovich played 25 games for Huntsville last season, with a 16-8-1 record and a .918 saves rate and two shutouts. He finished the final four games of the season at Macon. Latinovich will no doubt be relieved to get to Peoria.

The powerhouse Rivermen team attacked him for 13 goals in two outings last season. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound goaltender is 26 and from Maple, Ontario. He played junior hockey in the OJHL and led Georgetown to the Buckland Cup championship in 2016-17.

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He played three seasons for Clarkson University, then finished with two years at NCAA Div.-III Salve Regina University. He went 13-7-2 with a 2.12 goals-against and .930 saves rate there in his final college season.

Latinovich spent most of his rookie season with SPHL Huntsville last season, earning call-ups to ECHL Rapid City and Florida.

Goaltending is a family tradition for Latinovich, whose father, Nick, played the position. His uncle, Steve, was a goaltender for York University and is in the program's Hall of Fame. He also played in the Central Professional Hockey League for the Chicago Blackhawks farm team. In addition, the family has two cousins who are goaltenders.

Welcome back Baer

Alec Baer scored 26 goals and piled up 54 assists to notch 80 points in the 2021-22 Rivermen championship season. He was the first SPHL player in 12 years to reach 80 points in a single season.

Baer became just the fourth player in the 41-year history of the Rivermen franchise to be named regular-season MVP of a league, and the first in 32 years. He joined Rivermen goaltender Darrell May (1985-86, IHL), center Michel Mongeau (1989-90, IHL) and left wing David Bruce (1990-91, IHL).

He gave Peoria 18 goals and 31 assists in 41 games in 2022-23, his 48 points a top-18 finish in the league scoring race as the Rivermen tried to defend their title.

Baer was believed to be headed to Europe this season, but Peoria's coaching tandem of Trudel and Alec Hagaman recruited him back to the team.

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"Obviously, he's one of the biggest impact guys you can get in this league," Hagaman said. "He had Europe on his mind, but like a lot of our guys he decided to come back here with his teammates and try to win another championship.

"Alec trains and takes care of his body and works so hard, when everything is coming together for him he might be the best player in the SPHL."

Baer has had ECHL call-ups with Rapid City (twice), Maine, Newfoundland and Kansas City for a total of 70 games (11 goals, 10 assists) over five seasons.

River Readings

Former AHL-era Peoria Rivermen defenseman Jamie Rivers has been hired as the new lead analyst for the St. Louis Blues game broadcasts on Bally Sports Midwest. He takes over the role once held by Darren Pang. ... Christian Hmura, who occasionally came down from the Chicago area from his role in the Chicago Mission Youth Hockey program to join head coach Jean-Guy Trudel on the bench and serve as an assistant coach during SPHL games over the last two seasons, has been hired by the New York Rangers as Skills and Performance Development coach.

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: Peoria Rivermen trade for goalie, bring back former MVP for 2023-24