PEORIA — The Peoria Rivermen settled on their final roster for the playoffs as the SPHL deadline to lock in personnel arrived Sunday afternoon.
The Rivermen kept 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders, plus a pair of players on injured reserve. Only players on this 20-man list can appear in SPHL postseason play.
They are the No. 1 seed in the SPHL playoffs, winning the Coffey Trophy as league regular-season champions for the eighth time since entering the league in 2013-14.
Peoria finished 38-17-3 in the top spot, nine points ahead of Huntsville and 10 ahead of third-place Roanoke and Evansville.
The Rivermen will face No. 8 seed Macon in a best-of-3 first-round series that starts Thursday in Georgia.
Here’s a look at the Rivermen final playoff roster:
Key rookie defenseman Tyler Ryder, who was playing 23 minutes per game, is on injured reserve. So is scrappy winger Daniel Chartrand.
Either player can return during the playoffs from IR, but a corresponding roster move to drop another player would have to happen.
It’s a veteran team up front, with a half-dozen forwards who can play on No. 1 lines around the league. And the Peoria goaltending tandem ranks 1-2 in the SPHL.
“On paper we look pretty good,” Rivermen head coach Jean-Guy Trudel said. “Kind of the same group that didn’t make it through last year, honestly. We’re hoping they learned from that and go farther.
“It’s been hard the last few weeks because we clinched (the No. 1 seed) so early. We have to regain that momentum, that urgency and energy. We have two great goaltenders, a young intriguing defense and we’ll see how far our forwards can take us.
“At this level, it’s about consistency. It’s an even league this year and I think every team can go all the way or be done in the first round. That includes us.”
Where to get tickets
Individual tickets for the Rivermen first-round playoff home games go on sale Monday at 10 a.m.
Glass row seats are $31, premium lower bowl seats are $25, Pilot House seats are $19 and upper bowl seats are $18.
Tickets can be purchased via Ticketmaster or by calling the Rivermen team office at (309) 676-1040.
The Rivermen will host Game 2 of the best-of-3 series against Macon at Carver Arena in a 7:15 p.m. start Saturday. Game 3, if needed, is Sunday at Carver Arena at 5 p.m.
River Readings
The Rivermen final roster includes only nine players who were in the lineup on Opening Night last October. … Forwards Jordan Ernst, Alec Baer, Braydon Barker, Mike Gelatt and JM Piotrowski and goaltender Nick Latinovich are on the final Rivermen roster and played for the Rivermen team that won the President’s Cup in 2023-24. … Veteran former Rivermen defenseman Zach Wilkie did not meet the five-game regular-season threshold required to be eligible to play in postseason games, and he will remain retired.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star senior writer and 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 deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Who is on the final roster for the Peoria Rivermen as SPHL playoffs arrive?
Reporting by Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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