How the first-place Peoria Rivermen added two major stars and bolstered their title run

PEORIA — Jack Berry never had a chance to wear his championship ring.

Now he's going to try to help the Peoria Rivermen earn another one.

The SPHL playoff MVP who helped the Rivermen to their first championship in 22 years last spring, returned from England on Wednesday as the powerhouse defending champions made a pair of stunning moves.

The Rivermen also signed veteran center Joe Widmar, who began his pro career with Peoria in 2017-18 and helped them reach the SPHL Finals.

Widmar, now 27, played two years for the Rivermen and piled up 67 points in 58 games before moving up to the ECHL, where he played 154 games over the last five years.

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What, you thought the Rivermen were standing pat just because they head into the weekend in first place, six points ahead of the pack?

"I've been talking to them for a bit," Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel said. "They both committed during our road trip to Fayetteville over the weekend."

That road trip, in which the Rivermen — with key players missing from injuries and suspensions and ECHL call-ups — still swept three games in three nights from the Marksmen.

Now they are adding an accomplished netminder to their tandem with veteran Eric Levine. And a center who will be among the league's elite players.

"That about summarizes it," Trudel said. "We're getting a goaltender who won us a championship last spring. And in Widmar, he's a 6-foot-1 version of (defending SPHL MVP and scoring champion) Alec Baer.

"Berry was on a team in England that struggled in front of him. He was ready for a change. Widmar was on three ECHL teams this year and wants some stability. He understands he's coming in late. He'll think about next year after the season.

"We're happy, really excited about the two players. These are two guys who wanted to come back and try to win a championship here."

Peoria's primary two lines now look like this: Widmar centering Jordan Ernst and Alex Carrier; and JM Piotrowski centering Alec Hagaman and Marcel Godbout.

Goodbye, Nottingham

Jack Berry stepped into the lineup during the playoffs last spring and led the Rivermen to the President's Cup championship. He left early in the offseason to sign overseas with Nottingham, in England's top pro league.

Berry was gone before the Rivermen championship rings arrived in early fall.

"My ring was shipped to my parents," Berry said. "I never got to touch it. I only saw pictures of it until I got back home here last week. On Saturday, I touched it, put it on for the first time.

"They look amazing."

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Berry was 5-6-0 with a 4.19 goals-against and an .875 saves rate on a Nottingham team that struggled to a 10-19-3 record.

"Jean-Guy in the past has always put a great team together," Berry said. "I wanted to play for a good team. When Nottingham released me I weighed my options, put out a feeler to Guy. Next thing I know I signed here. I had options to play elsewhere in Europe, but Peoria made sense for me."

Berry came in last season and went 8-3-3 for the Rivermen during the regular season with a 2.24 goals-against and .921 saves rate.

In the playoffs, he went 6-3 with a 2.44 goals-against and .924 saves rate and was spectacular in the finals against Roanoke.

"I talked to Marcel Godbout," Berry said. "The majority of the team from last year is here. I'm excited, we have a heckuva team. Lot of room for improvement, always.

"But the pieces are there, the core group of guys like JM Piotrowski, Nick Neville, Mitch McPherson … this team is stunning. It's great, and I can't wait to get on the ice with them."

Until then, he'll just have to picture the last time he skated with this team. Championship night in Roanoke, in early May.

"When we won it in Pensacola (he was part of that title team in 2020-21) it was so quick," Berry said. "I told myself then, that if I ever was part of a championship again I need to step back and look at everybody, take it all in.

"I did that last spring. I can still picture the faces when the Cup came into the room with us, how emotional and exciting it was guys. I want to do that again."

He's no ordinary Joe

Joe Widmar is a star at the SPHL level, a strong skating playmaking center who poured in 67 points in 58 games while spending his first two pro seasons with the Rivermen in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

He earned SPHL All-Rookie Team honors and was part of Peoria's 2017-18 finals team that lost a best-of-three series, 2-1, to Huntsville.

Widmar went on to the ECHL, where he was always in demand, playing for Fort Wayne, Greenville, Wichita, Atlanta, Iowa, Indy, Norfolk, Allen and Florida. He spent a season in Europe, too, playing in Poland.

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Now 27, the talented center reached the limit of his willingness to relocate after playing for nine ECHL teams in five seasons.

It peaked this season when he shifted for 33 games between Norfolk, Allen, Florida and Iowa.

"I was bouncing around too much, just miserable up there," Widmar said. "I wanted to have some fun. So I contacted Jean-Guy Trudel, let him know I wanted to settle down someplace and win a championship.

"I just want to be part of it here. Try to do my part."

Widmar has 24 goals and 53 assists in 154 career ECHL games. But he's back to where his pro career started, in Peoria, looking for peace.

"Guy's been in touch with me throughout the year," Widmar said. "I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. This year, it's been really tough. Changing teams so many times just kills your confidence. Hopefully, I can get that back here."

And something else: A championship ring.

"I just watched (Peoria's title run) from a distance, contacted (Rivermen captain) Alec Hagaman when they won it," Widmar said. "I just want to contribute to winning some games. Whatever that means I do, that will be fine with me."

An intervention in Vermilion County

The Vermilion County Bobcats are, once again, a mess on a scale seldom seen anywhere else in pro hockey.

The Danville-based second-year SPHL team has reportedly fired its head coach, Chris Blaisuis, a little more than three months into his first season. Nothing new there. Vermilion County has fired or seen resigned 10 coaches in its 1.5 seasons of existence.

Officially, the team owned by Ellen Tully has had more head coaches (10) than victories (9) in its history.

The Bobcats went 5-46-5 last season as an expansion team. This season, they are 4-23-2.

Vermilion County abruptly released three players on Tuesday and as of Wednesday had only eight forwards on its roster.

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League sources said the team's off-ice business staff resigned.

SPHL owners were meeting on Wednesday to discuss the situation and waiting to see what Tully intends to do. They are scheduled to play Quad City twice this weekend and host the Rivermen on Sunday.

"We don't know what the status of that game is right now," Trudel said. "We're preparing as best we can, the game is on our schedule and we'll be ready to go."

And no, the SPHL can't just intervene. Tully has not broken any operational rules in the league. She has a right to run her team as she wishes.

But it sure is a poor optic for the league.

River Readings

The Rivermen have won eight straight games. … Peoria is a league-best 13-4-0 on the road. … Rivermen goaltender Eric Levine is third-ranked in the SPHL with a 12-5-2 record, 2.55 goals-against, .910 saves rate and league-best 3 shutouts. … Called-up Rivermen center Alec Baer is playing on the first line and top power play unit at ECHL Kansas City. … The Rivermen released center Nigel Slade, and he has signed with Quad City. … Peoria also released goaltender Josh Benson, who won twice in Fayetteville for them. The roster moves were made to clear space for the additions of Jack Berry and Joe Widmar. … Former Rivermen defenseman Roy Kanda has returned from the ECHL to Vermilion County.

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 signs playoff hero in goal and a star center