The Peoria Rivermen were an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

team that played in the International Hockey League. They played in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria Metropolitan Area in Ce ...

at the

Carver Arena Peoria Civic Center is an entertainment complex located in downtown Peoria, Illinois. Designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Philip Johnson and John Burgee, it has an arena, theater, exhibit hall and meeting rooms. It opened in 1982 and co ...

. A new team with the Peoria Rivermen name currently competes in the

Southern Professional Hockey League The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league based in Huntersville, North Carolina, with teams located primarily in the southeastern United States as well as Illinois and Indiana in the midw ...

History

The Peoria Rivermen were founded in 1982–83 in the International Hockey League, operating under owner Ken Wilson as the Peoria Prancers. The franchise was taken over by the Peoria Civic Center in 1984, which held a contest with the ''Peoria Journal Star'' newspaper to rename the team with Rivermen as the winner. The IHL's Peoria Rivermen began operations for the 1984–85 season and won the Turner Cup in their first season. They were bought by Bruce Saurs in the summer of 1989, and he owned the club for 19 seasons. Following several season of financial losses, Saurs sold 50% of the ownership in the IHL franchise in 1996 and relocated it as the San Antonio Dragons. Saurs then launched the Rivermen in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) beginning with the 1996–97 season. They held professional hockey's longest winning streak at 18 games in 1991 until the

Norfolk Admirals Norfolk Admirals has been the name of two professional ice hockey franchises: *Norfolk Admirals (AHL), a team which played in the American Hockey League from 2000 to 2015 *Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) The Norfolk Admirals are a professional ice hocke ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the lea ...

broke the record by winning 28 consecutive games in 2012. Former owner Bruce Saurs died in July 2014.

References

External links

The Internet Hockey Database - Peoria Rivermen
Defunct ice hockey teams in Illinois Peoria Rivermen St. Louis Blues minor league affiliates New York Islanders minor league affiliates 1982 establishments in Illinois Ice hockey clubs established in 1982 1996 disestablishments in Illinois Ice hockey teams in Illinois Sports clubs disestablished in 1996 Calgary Flames minor league affiliates {{Illinois-sport-team-stub