Why the Peoria Rivermen are SPHL's leaders, and how they'll stay there

PEORIA — The Peoria Rivermen have opened the second half of the Southern Professional Hockey League season in sole possession of first place.

So let's take a look at how the defending champions got there, and what they'll need to do to stay there the rest of the way.

"We've faced adversity like every other team, had our dips and our peaks, and we're right where we want to be," Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel said. "But we have work to do, and we'll continue to try to get better.

"At this level of the game, it's never settled. Any team that loses two or three top players to injuries or call-ups, that team is going to have a hard time. That's our reality."

The Rivermen have key center Andrew Durham on IR right now, and SPHL defending scoring champion and MVP Alec Baer on what looks like a long call-up to ECHL Kansas City.

Yet the team continues to win.

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"Zach Wilkie and Nick Neville are our first-half MVPs," Trudel said. "If we play without them, we're not the same hockey team. We ever lose those two guys we're going to be in trouble, they've just been phenomenal."

And another reason — the team's most improved player through 30 games?

"Braydon Barker," Trudel said of the defenseman. "He's gotten so good, so fast. He's gone from being a No. 5-6 defenseman to a top 3 must-play guy. We have a lot of players who have shown growth like that."

Through the eyes of a player

Rivermen center JM Piotrowski, whose goal clinched the President's Cup last spring, was asked to weigh in with his view of the team's title defense so far.

What he likes:

• "Excitement of each game to see who is going to step up and be the hero. We lost two top scorers, but it gives great new opportunities for the next guy."

• "Response to adversity — specifically the post-break lull — but even just the way we respond to games we play from behind."

• "Growth of the core — last year I felt like we had a lot of new faces. They have become our core into this season and the way we are continuing to grow together is going to be dangerous as we gear up towards the playoffs."

What he sees as areas to improve:

• "The way we start games sometimes puts us behind and we are on our heels to start. Luckily we are in great shape and play well in the second and third periods. But we can't rely on our goalies to keep us in it at the beginning all the time."

• "Executing game plans. We are lucky enough to have structure that wins us a lot of games. When we become too individualistic, we struggle."

Player of the week honors

Rivermen veteran goaltender Eric Levine has been named SPHL Player of the Week.

Levine led the Rivermen to a three-game sweep last week that put them into first place. That included a two-game sweep at Quad City, the latter game a 5-0 shutout that gave Levine a league-best three shutouts for the season.

He went 3-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against and a .967 saves rate for the week.

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1,050 days, goaltender ejected, Rivermen rally

The Rivermen opened their three-games, three-nights weekend road series with Fayetteville in style Friday.

Peoria veteran goaltender Eric Levine was protecting a 1-0 lead at 11:26 of the second period when he was driven into the crossbar by Fayetteville right wing Tanner Nagel.

Levine did not take it well. He chopped Nagel up high with his stick, drew a major slashing penalty, and was ejected from the game. First time I can ever remember a Rivermen goaltender ejected from a game on a non-fighting penalty.

Nagel drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Fayetteville scored twice, 30 seconds apart, on the ensuing extended power play against backup goaltender Josh Benson to take a 2-1 lead.

Benson shut them out the rest of the way, and as Piotrowski alluded to earlier in this story, the Rivermen found a hero in Piotrowski. He notched the game-tying goal at 10:28 of the third period, then he notched the game-winner at 14:10 on a bad-angle shot from the right endline that deflected in off goaltender Jason Pawloski.

That gave Peoria six straight wins and a maintained its place atop the SPHL standings.

It was matchup that has waited years. Peoria and Fayetteville were tied for first place in the SPHL in March of 2020 when the pandemic hit.

The Rivermen had just bused to Fayetteville for a showdown series, but the league canceled the rest of the season before the two powerhouses could play. No champion was declared that season.

The Rivermen sat out the 2020-21 season because of pandemic operating restrictions in Illinois. And last season, they weren't scheduled to play each other. So after a wait of 1,050 days, they faced off Friday.

River Readings

Rivermen veteran winger Alex Carrier has been suspended one game by the SPHL for his major boarding penalty in a game against Vermilion County on Sunday. … When the Rivermen released 32-year-old defenseman Ben Oskroba after he played a trio of games for a retirement farewell, Quad City claimed him on SPHL Waivers. Oskroba didn't report — because he's retired — and now the Storm has placed Oskroba on team suspension. … Former Rivermen defenseman Elliot St-Pierre has been traded by Knoxville to Quad City. … The Rivermen signed center Nigel Slade last week. He's a third-year pro, goes 6-foot, 185, and played 13 games for Fayetteville in 2019-20, 51 games for Macon in 2021-22 and nine more for Macon this season. … Former Rivermen center Carter Roo, traded by Peoria to Macon on Jan. 3, has finally reported to his new team. ... The Rivermen are amid a seven-game, 25-day road trip, and resumed play Friday with a three-game series at Fayetteville.

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 hockey analysis: How the Rivermen will stay atop the SPHL