Peoria-born Rivermen celebrating hockey championship in hometown

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — It couldn’t have ended any better for Alec Hagaman.

One of the most popular players in Peoria Rivermen scored five goals in his final two games and led the team to the President’s Cup championship Sunday night. He scored the first and fourth goals in Peoria’s 5-1 win in the clinching third game of the SPHL championship series with Huntsville.

Hagaman, the first Peoria-born captain in Rivermen history, announced his retirement last spring after the Rivermen were eliminated in the SPHL semifinals. But he reconsidered and came out of retirement to play one more season with his hometown team.

“It’s surreal. All the sacrifices my wife and family, everybody has made for me my whole life. For me to be able to do this at home. I can’t put it into words how grateful I am,” said Hagaman.

So there he was Sunday, skating the President’s Cup trophy around Carver Arena moments after he was named the series MVP. And moments after the franchise won its fifth league championship in its 40-year history.

“We are champions forever now. Our name will hopefully be remembered for a long time,” said Hagaman. “It’s unbelievable and something I will remember for the rest of my life. Thank you to all the fans, you guys are amazing.”

Hagaman was one of three Peoria natives on the team that won the Rivermen their second SPHL title in three years. Mitch McPherson and Tristan Trudel, who also scored goals in the series, were the others.

Like Hagaman, McPherson ended his retirement to rejoin the Rivermen for this championship season. Trudel just finished his rookie season.

All three are products of Peoria youth hockey. Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel, Tristan’s father, has invested a lot of time and energy into the Peoria Youth Hockey Association to grow the game in central Illinois and develop players.

“I think it shows how our youth system is run. Guy does a lot with our youth system. Guy teaches those kids so much,” said McPherson. “There’s going to be many more (players from Peoria). Me and Hags are just the beginning. There’s going to be more kids coming through here in the future, I believe. It’s amazing.”

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