'Called up to Rivermen': How this scoring ace landed back with defending champ Peoria

PEORIA — Marcel Godbout played a big part in helping the Peoria Rivermen go the distance to an SPHL championship last spring.

On Friday, he went the extra mile to take up a role in their 2022-23 title defense.

The winger was released by ECHL Allen, cleared waivers, and jumped in his car for a 775-mile trip to Peoria.

"I called (Rivermen coach) Jean-Guy Trudel and told him I was on the way," Godbout said. "I waited to clear ECHL waivers, waited to see if any teams were going to pick me up, and then I got moving toward Peoria.

"I left at 12:30 a.m. and drove 12 hours, got to Peoria around 1 p.m. put on my uniform and played the game."

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He had an impact on a 4-3 Rivermen victory over the Vermilion County Bobcats before 2,210 at Carver Arena.

With Godbout and his No. 58 jersey in the lineup, the Rivermen rolled to 9-1-1 in their last 11 games and took over second place in the SPHL, one point out of the league lead.

Had the game been played a week or so from now, when Godbout had a chance to knock off a little rust, he might have scored four goals. The prolific goalscorer hit a crossbar, twice hit posts and missed wide on an open net off the back door.

He settled for an assist and a plus-1 rating in his 2022-23 debut.

"He played well and he's going to be great, it's huge for us to have him," said Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel, loading up a punchline. "He's ready for the challenge of getting called up from the ECHL to the Peoria Rivermen."

The quip was often used by the late, great Bob Plager when he was head coach of the IHL champion Rivermen in 1990-91, a team that won a pro hockey record 18 straight games and referred to players coming down from the NHL parent club Blues as being "called up to the Rivermen."

Box score:Rivermen 4, Vermilion County 3

Ready to do it again

Godbout had one of the greatest seasons by a rookie in the history of the SPHL and in the 40-year history of the Rivermen last season. He notched 33 goals and added 28 assists in just 50 games on the way to SPHL Rookie of the Year honors.

His goalscoring total was the sixth-highest by a rookie in the history of the Rivermen, and third-highest in the history of the SPHL.

That sent him on course for a shot with Allen in the class-AA ECHL after a summer of celebrating and training for the next step.

Last season:How the SPHL's top-scoring rookie ended up with the Peoria Rivermen, who sweep QC

"I was about 10 miles away from (2021-22 Rivermen defenseman) Chris Allemon, so we skated and trained and talked about the championship a lot," Godbout said. "When I was in Allen, I watched video of the championship ceremony in Peoria on opening night for the Rivermen. It was so awesome, I really wished I could be there."

Now he is, and he skated Friday with center Alec Baer and big winger Mitch McPherson.

Baer and Godbout were on the ice together for two Rivermen goals.

The Rivermen now have slowly rebuilt most of their 2021-22 championship team, 13 of its members back on the current roster. Only three forwards, three defenseman and one goaltender are gone from the title team.

They have some real firepower among their top forwards in Godbout, Baer, JM Piotrowski, Jordan Ernst and Tyler Barrow.

Barrow is a rookie, but the others are all from last year's championship club and two of them -- Baer and Ernst -- scored goals Friday.

Remembering his story

Rivermen fans will remember Godbout, a 5-foot-8, 175-pound right wing, who grew up in St. Clair Shores, Mich., with his father, Brian, his mother, Maureen, his sister, Leah and brother, Noah.

They have family in Montreal, but he is not what his French-sounding name might lead some to think he is.

"I am not a French-Canadian hockey player, I don't even speak French," Godbout said. "Not a sentence. I'm a Detroit-area guy."

He came up through the youth hockey system, playing for Belle Tire's 13-under team in Detroit, and later moving on to junior hockey's USHL, where he played for Des Moines, Waterloo, Chicago, Madison and Sioux City. He followed that with four seasons at Sacred Heart University before joining Pensacola for nine games at the end of last season.

"I was a Caps fan growing up," Godbout said. "My father was a big Toronto fan. I got into the game after my grandfather (Rocky) started taking me rollerblading when I was 2. Hockey was a natural progression for me, and I stood out when I was 12 because I had grown early, was bigger and stronger than the other kids.

"But I knew by then I wanted to play the game for a long time."

That little stint in Pensacola was crucial to his hockey path, because it was there that Rivermen captain Alec Hagaman — playing in Pensacola for a season while the Peoria franchise sat dormant because of COVID — saw Godbout.

When Vermilion County claimed Godbout from Pensacola in the expansion draft before last season, the player refused to report to the Danville-based expansion team.

Vermilion County offered Godbout to the Rivermen, and Hagaman advised Trudel to grab him. The Bobcats won five games all season, while the Rivermen won the President's Cup.

"I walked through the doors and was excited to be back here," Godbout said Friday. "See all the guys again, be part of this team again. It's a good place for me to be."

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River Readings

Marcel Godbout said he was playing about 10 minutes per game at ECHL Allen, where he had one assist in 12 games. He played 20-plus minutes in his season debut with Peoria on Friday. … Friday's victory put Peoria in second place in the SPHL, one point out of the lead. … Vermilion County showed up with another new coach, this one named Chris Blaisuis. The game against the Rivermen was his debut. Vermilion County, in the first 70 games of the franchise's existence, has had seven wins and six head coaches. … Rivermen defenseman Dale Deon had the game's first goal, a slick snap from between the circles for his first goal of the season. … The Rivermen ran off 12 unanswered shot in the first seven minutes of the second period, a 20-minute session in which Vermilion County spent less than 2 minutes in the Peoria zone. … Peoria got a gorgeous one-timer from Alec Baer for a 2-2 tie in the second period, then a big goal from Jordan Ernst for a 3-2 lead at 7:44 of the third period. Ben Assad added what was eventually the game-winner at 9:10 of the third period. … Rookie goaltender Josh Boyko got the win. … Veteran Rivermen defenseman Nick Neville had 3 assists and went plus-2. … Peoria right wing Cayden Cahill had 11 shots on goal.

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 Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria Rivermen hockey brings back SPHL Rookie of Year Marcel Godbout