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Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen complete final ECHL season

April 14, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


THE RECAP:

Tuesday, April 5, 2005 @ Reading Game #70 ECHL Game #977

Rivermen 0 Reading 2

With their playoff lives on the line, the Peoria Rivermen were unable to find any offense, losing 2-0 to the Reading Royals before 4,257 on Tuesday night at the Sovereign Center. With the defeat, Peoria finished its last seven games, including playoffs, with an 0-6-1 record at the Sovereign Center.

The Royals capped the victory off with an empty-net goal with 24 seconds remaining in the game. A Reggie Stringer pass just outside the Peoria zone was cut off by Reading’s David Masse, who walked into the Peoria zone and snapped in a low shot from the top of the right face-off circle as he was being tripped. It was Masse’s eighth tally of the season.

Peoria (37-25-8, 82 points) has lost its last two straight games, both against Reading, and has dropped to 14-18-3 away from Carver Arena. The Rivermen finished their eight-game regular season series with the Royals at 2-6-0. In the loss, Peoria was able to hold its opponent to two goals or less for the 24th time in the last 42 games. Reading (42-20-7, 91 points) has won four in a row and has improved to 24-8-3 at home. The victory increased the Reading lead in first place to three points with still another game in hand on the second-place Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies.

Friday, April 8, 2005 @ Toledo Game #71 ECHL Game #993

Rivermen 3 Toledo 6

For the first time in 18 years of Peoria professional hockey, the Rivermen will not make a trip to the postseason. On Friday night, they were eliminated from playoff contention by the archrival Toledo Storm, who handed them a 6-3 defeat before 4,686 at the Toledo Sports Arena. It was Peoria’s final trip to Toledo and final game ever against the Storm.

With the victory, Toledo grabbed the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division and will take on the Reading Royals in the North Division Semifinals. The Storm missed the postseason last year.

The Rivermen got within two goals early in the third period, making it 4-2. Defenseman Ed Hill corralled a loose puck in the right-wing corner and threw it out to the top of the goal crease, where rookie Jake Riddle tipped it past Toledo goaltender Scott Fankhouser at 2:15. It was Riddle’s 12th tally of the year.

The Storm regained their three-goal lead at 6:09 in the final period of regulation. Carl Mallette floated a shot toward the Peoria net from the left point that was tipped down and past Rivermen goaltender Alfie Michaud. It was Sleigher’s 11th goal of the season.

The Rivermen pulled their goaltender with more than six minutes remaining. With the resulting empty net, Toledo’s Pierre-Luc Sleigher netted his second consecutive tally and 12th of the season, shooting the puck past Peoria defenseman Trevor Byrne to make it 6-2.

Peoria made it 6-3 with 1:51 left in regulation, as team-leading goal scorer Brian McCullough rifled home his second goal of the game and 39th of the season from the high slot on a feed from Rivermen Captain Trevor Baker.

Peoria (37-26-8, 82 points) has lost three in a row and finished its critical six-game road trip with a 1-4-1 record. The Rivermen finished 14-19-3 on the road this year and were 4-6-1 against the Storm in the season series. It was just the fourth time this season Peoria had surrendered six goals in a contest. Not to be forgotten, the Rivermen went 30-14-5 in 49 games after Christmas to get themselves into playoff contention. Toledo (41-25-5, 87 points) posted its 24th home win of the season (24-9-2) with the victory.

Saturday, April 9, 2005 vs. Dayton Game #72 ECHL Game #1005

Rivermen 5 Dayton 4 Shootout

The images were indelible. Peoria Captain Trevor Baker netted the shootout winner in the fifth and final round for a 5-4 victory over the Dayton Bombers in front of 7,255 on Saturday night at Carver Arena. And Tyler Rennette, who took his jersey off at center ice in a curtain call, while Baker and Randy Rowe followed his lead before exiting the ice one final time.

The Rivermen made it 4-2 at 8:09 of the final period of regulation. Kris Kasper carried the puck into the Dayton zone on right wing and fed a breaking Phil Lewandowski, who was driving down the slot. The shot was stopped by Dayton goaltender Mike Ayers, and the rebound was poked home by defenseman-turned-forward Warren Toews, who was trailing the play.

The Bombers got within a tally for the third time in the game at 10:25 on the power play. Tyler Sloan took a pass from Jeff Szwez at the left point and whipped a low slap shot inside the left goal post that made its way unfettered through a maze of players about eight inches off the ice. It was Sloan’s sixth goal of the season.

Dayton tied the game 4-4 for the first time with another power play goal 1:40 later. Szwez took a pass from Chris Pedota, broke through the Rivermen defense and roofed his hat trick goal into the upper right corner. It was his 29th marker of the year.

Peoria outshot Dayton four to two in the overtime but the game went to a shootout. Trevor Byrne and Reggie Stringer scored for the Rivermen earlier in the shootout, and Dayton’s Todd Alexander and Brent Ozarowski scored in the extra session.

Peoria (38-26-8, 84 points) finished its ECHL tenure at Carver Arena with a 221-64-35 record. The Rivermen ended up 4-3-2 against the Bombers this year and 50-28-11 lifetime in the ECHL in the regular season. Dayton (23-40-9, 55 points) finished the season 0-4-2 in its last six games and 11-22-3 on the road.

The Captain’s Log

Three Points Or Just One Game… From The Playoffs

The Rivermen (38-26-8, 84 points) finished their ninth and final season in the ECHL just three points or one game from the 2005 Kelly Cup Playoffs. That one game came on Friday, April 8 in Toledo, Ohio, against the archrival Storm. Peoria needed to win that game but lost 6-3 as Toledo clinched a playoff spot and left the Rivermen out. Peoria finished in fifth place in the North Division, the first time the franchise had finished lower than third in its nine years in the ECHL. In fact, prior to finishing third in the Northern Division in 2003-2004, the Rivermen finished first (three times) or second (four times) in their respective division over their first seven seasons in the ECHL. Peoria powered its way back into the playoff picture with a torrid 31-14-5 record (67 percent point-making percentage) in the 50 games following the Christmas Holiday.

Our Definition = Defense

The Rivermen completed their ninth and last season in the ECHL, allowing just 2.46 goals per game, which was good for third place in the ECHL. In fact, over the last five seasons under Head Coach Jason Christie, the Rivermen have ranked third or better in team defense. Last season (2003-2004), Peoria held opponents to 2.46 goals per game, which tied them for third with the San Diego Gulls. In 2002-2003, the Rivermen gave up 2.51 goals per game, ranking them first in the League. In 2001-2002, Peoria surrendered 2.49 tallies per contest to again rank third in the ECHL, and in 2000-2001, the Rivermen kept the opposition to 2.53 goals per game, which ranked second in the League.

Penalty-Kill Princes

While struggling with man advantage this season, converting 15.6 percent of the time and ranking 21st in the 28-team ECHL, the Rivermen put together a precision performance on the penalty kill. They tied for fifth in the League with an 86.2 percent efficiency rating. At one point this season, Peoria snuffed out 71 straight penalty kills and was also ranked first (88.70) in the League in penalty kill efficiency at the end of that week. The streak lasted from January 8 to February 24, setting a new 23-year Peoria Professional Hockey record. The Rivermen, who broke the record of 66 straight penalty kills by Mississippi in 2000-01, raised their penalty kill from 84.52 percent (142-for-168) to 88.98 percent during the streak.

Carver Arena Control

After opening the season 2-4-2 at Carver Arena, the Rivermen went 22-3-3 in their last 28 home games. Peoria finished with an 11-game home winning streak, dating back to February 25. Peoria completed its nine-year ECHL tenure with a 221-64-35 (75 percent point-making percentage) lifetime ECHL regular season record at Carver Arena.

Christie Carried Us On & Off The Ice

Rivermen Head Coach Jason Christie finished his five-year coaching career with the ECHL Rivermen with 233 career wins, which ranks him first on the Rivermen All-Time Franchise Regular Season & Playoffs Coaching Wins List. The record, which was broken on January 21, 2005 in a 4-1 win over the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies, was held by former Rivermen International Hockey League (IHL) Head Coach and ECHL Commissioner Emeritus Pat Kelly, who had 209. Christie – a 35-year-old native of Gibbons, Alberta – owns the best regular season winning percentage (.661) of any coach in Rivermen ECHL history with a record of 217-101-42. An All-Star Coach in 2001 & 2004, he is one of just two head coaches in ECHL history to win 40 or more games in each of his first four seasons in the League; Pensacola’s Dave Farrish is the other coach. Christie finished his 10-year professional playing career by winning his last game, as the Rivermen captured their first ECHL Kelly Cup Championship in 2000 by beating the Louisiana IceGators in four straight games after losing the first two of the seven-game series at home. The 5-foot-8, 180-pound right winger shared Co-Most Valuable Player honors with J.F. Boutin for the 2000 Kelly Cup Playoffs, notching 13 points (3g, 10a) in 17 games. Christie played five of his 10 seasons at the IHL/AHL level, collecting 172 points (58g, 114a) in 305 games with 390 penalty minutes.

Right-On Rennette

Having completed his sixth professional season and fifth with the Rivermen, center Tyler Rennette, a 2003 ECHL All-Star, finished second on the All-Time Rivermen ECHL Points List with 255, 26 behind center Joe Rybar. Rennette ranks first on the All-Time Rivermen ECHL Goals List with 130, 32 in front of left wing J.F. Boutin. Rennette’s 125 assists rank him sixth on the All-Time Rivermen ECHL Assists List. He earned Team MVP honors, as voted on by his teammates, at the conclusion of the 2002-2003 & 2003-2004 seasons. With 42 goals in 2002-2003, the second round selection (40th overall) of the St. Louis Blues in 1997 NHL Entry Draft became the first 40-goal scorer the Rivermen had since the 1991-1992 International Hockey League (IHL) season, when Steve Tuttle netted 43 and Yves Heroux tallied 41. During 2002-2003, Rennette set single-season career bests in goals (42), assists (32) and points (74). For his efforts this season, Rennette tallied 44 points (18g, 26a) to rank fifth on the team. His +21 plus/minus rating placed him second on the team behind defenseman Trevor Byrne (+24).

Baker Made Us Better

Trevor Baker, who served as Team Captain his final two seasons with the Rivermen, finished first on the All-Time Rivermen ECHL Penalty Minutes (PIM) List with 1,109. With 220 points (90g, 130a), Baker finished fourth on the All-Time Rivermen ECHL Points List, while finishing fourth in goals and eighth in assists. The 27-year-old native of Edmonton, Alberta, set a career mark for PIM in one season with 228 in 2000-2001 for the Rivermen. He notched single-season career bests in assists (43) and points (61) with the Rivermen in 2003-2004 after establishing a single-season career best in goals (23) in 2002-2003. This season, he tallied 45 points (17g, 28a), a +10 plus/minus rating and 114 PIM.

Relying On Rowe

Fourth-year left wing Randy Rowe finished his Rivermen ECHL tenure with 204 points (94g, 110a), ranking sixth on the All-Time Rivermen ECHL Points List. He was also fourth on the All-Time Rivermen ECHL Goals List and was ninth on the All-Time Rivermen ECHL Assists List. The 24-year-old native of Burford, Ontario, earned 2004 Par-A-Dice ECHL All-Star MVP honors with three points (2g, 1a), including the game winner, in a 7-6 Eastern Conference win on January 21, 2004 in Peoria, Ill.

McCullough Masterful

Brian McCullough, who was a three-time ECHL All-Star over the four seasons prior to this one, put forth an All-Star performance for the Rivermen this season, leading the team in goals (39), game-winning goals (8), power play goals (8), shorthanded goals (4), assists (T-30) and points (69). He ranked second in the ECHL in goals scored, tied for third in game-winning goals, tied for fourth in shorthanded tallies and ranked seventh in points.

Amazing Michaud

In 48 games, Michaud posted a 27-13-5 record, a 2.04 goals against average (GAA) and registered a save percentage of .929 on the year. The 28-year-old native of Selkirk, Manitoba, ranked third in the ECHL in GAA, tied for fifth in wins, and ranked seventh in save percentage. He finished March with a 9-2-1 record, a 1.85 GAA and a .934 save percentage. He led the ECHL with six shutouts, one shy of a League record held by Frederic Cloutier (2001-2002, Louisiana), David Brumby (1999-2000, Jackson) and Maxime Gingras (1998-1999, Richmond). He has twice been a Reebok Hockey ECHL Saver of the Week. Michaud, the 2002-2003 ECHL Goaltender of the Year, was snubbed from this season’s All ECHL First & Second Teams.

Injury, Call-up & Transaction Report

· Rivermen defensemen Trevor Byrne and Patrick Wellar and goaltender Chris Beckford-Tseu have been reassigned to the Worcester IceCats (AHL), 04/10/05.

· Rivermen left wing Brian McCullough has been called up to the Worcester IceCats (AHL), 04/09/05.

· Rivermen defenseman Tim Branham has been placed on the 7-day injured reserve, 04/05/05.

· Rivermen left wing Igor Valeev remains on the 7-day injured reserve, 04/01/05.

· Rivermen left wing Justin Maiser remains on reassignment to the Worcester IceCats (AHL), 03/26/05.

· Right wing Colin Hemingway remains on reassignment to the Worcester IceCats (AHL), 03/02/05.

· Rivermen left wing David Kaczowka has been suspended by the ECHL (two games), 02/16/05.

· Rivermen left wing David Kaczowka remains on reassignment to the Worcester IceCats (AHL), 02/14/05.

· Left wing Igor Valeev remains on reassignment from the Worcester IceCats (AHL), 02/10/05.

· Rivermen rookie center Troy Riddle remains on reassignment to the Worcester IceCats (AHL), 12/01/04.

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