PEORIA — Jordan Ernst is coming home.
The Peoria Rivermen signed Ernst in a surprise move Wednesday, adding one of the most prolific goalscorers in the minors to their first-place team.
Ernst scored 37 goals in just 55 games last season on the way to SPHL MVP honors. That served as a springboard to winning a spot with the class-AA ECHL Toledo Walleye this year and he has been with them all season.
Ernst scored 10 goals in 41 games for the Walleye, who are tied for first place in their division. He was placed on team suspension earlier this week when he left their camp and headed to Peoria.
He joins a Rivermen team that is 32-10-1 and holds a first-place lead by 15 points in the SPHL as they march on with a championship-caliber season.
Ernst, 28, is a Mokena, Ill., native who has 101 goals in 199 regular-season games with the Rivermen over six seasons. He has another 14 goals in 26 playoff games with Peoria, and was part of the Rivermen teams that won the SPHL’s President’s Cup in 2021-22 and 2023-24.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound power forward has 25 game-winning goals for the Rivermen. He is expected to join the team in time Friday when it hosts Evansville in a return from an eight-game, 25-day road trip.
River Readings
Rivermen goaltender Connor MaAnanama, who is on IR in the SPHL with a sore back, was called-up to ECHL Tahoe on Wednesday. … Rivermen defenseman Kylar Fenton returned from a call-up with ECHL Maine. … The Rivermen placed defenseman Terry Ryder and defenseman Alex Davis on 14-day IR. … Peoria defenseman Ayodele Adeniye was shifted to the 30-day IR with an ankle injury. … Peoria right wing Zac Sirota returned from 14-day IR. … Peoria is on a 22-2-1 run.
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: Surprise: Peoria Rivermen get 37-goal legacy player from the ECHL
Reporting by Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
