This Peoria Rivermen center is a twin — but he plays like one of a kind

PEORIA — Joe Drapluk is a twin.

But he's proven to be one of a kind with a Peoria Rivermen team loaded with star power as they sit in the Southern Professional Hockey League top spot amid their title 2022-23 defense.

Drapluk has emerged from the supporting cast to play a leading role on a team that has won nine straight games entering Saturday.

"Joe Drapluk is our unsung hero, that's what we call him," Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel said. "He's our details guy, so good at either end of the ice. Always in the right spot, can play everywhere, a versatile skill set.

"Anything we need, he can do it, and lately that's been generating points. When we have a guy struggling, we put them on the ice with Joe and he gets them going."

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

Drapluk has five goals and five assists in his last nine games. Five of his 11 goals in 33 games this season have come against rival Quad City.

"I seem to have their number right now," Drapluk said, grinning. "But I'm more focused on little things that create big plays. Make the simple play, win a faceoff, be the first guy on the forecheck, those kind of things."

Everyone hates the Yankees

Drapluk was captain at SPHL Macon and was already in town, getting ready for the season there, when the Mayhem traded him to the Rivermen in mid-October for future considerations.

"Macon said they were going a different direction and traded me to Peoria," Drapluk said. "I didn't know how to feel about being traded to Peoria. The Rivermen were always winning in this league and people outside Peoria hated them.

"It was like hating the Yankees because they were always so good, and so hard to play against. But once I got here and met everyone, saw this arena and the banners and learned about the team's history, settled into the culture Jean-Guy has built here, it has been great."

8 minutes older

Drapluk is a twin, born eight minutes ahead of his brother, Brian.

"My twin and I grew up playing hockey and soccer and baseball and lacrosse — we played everything together," Drapluk said.

That included four years of hockey together at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, where his twin was a defenseman.

The brothers had current Rivermen winger Cayden Cahill and former Rivermen winger Ryan Cusin there as teammates.

"When we were done with college, I went pro and Brian went for a job," Drapluk said.

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Drapluk went on to play 54 games for Pensacola in the SPHL during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, netting 10 goals with 16 assists. He sat out the pandemic in 2020-21, then came back to the game in 2021-22 with Macon, where he played 52 games.

All told, he's played 139 SPHL games with 27 goals and 38 assists. He has 11 goals and 11 assists in 33 games with the Rivermen this season, and his plus-21 rating is third-best in the SPHL.

A 90-pound offensive lineman

Drapluk grew up in Pembroke Pines, Fla., a suburb about 20 miles north of Miami that has been home many prominent athletes, from baseball's Manny Ramirez and Mike Napoli, to football's Lawrence Taylor and Geno Atkins and others from the NHL and NBA, too.

Drapluk's parents, Mike and Lisa, were New Jersey people who loved hockey. The family included five children — twins Joe and Brian, brother Eric, and sisters Jessica and Nicole.

"Jessica is the oldest of us, and was the family's first hockey player," Drapluk said. "Nicole is an NCAA Div.-I soccer player at Delaware State. My brother, Eric, played pro hockey for a long time."

Eric Drapluk played at Lake Superior State and spent five years in the ECHL with Tulsa and Orlando, playing 301 games.

"Pembroke Pines was right there near Miami, and the Florida Panthers had a real influence on kids in the area," Drapluk said. "A lot of former NHL players live down there.

"I had a couple NHL coaches in the area, and Russian camp instructor, teach me how to skate."

And then there was middle school, where he tried football.

"I was a 90-pound offensive lineman," Drapluk said, laughing. "I got destroyed."

A hypothetical dream

Drapluk was asked who his linemates would be if he could pick two NHL players, past or present, and play one shift in the NHL.

"Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic," he said. " I would give up the center spot and move to allow Forsberg to play center on a line. I think Crosby would work there, too.

"I like guys who compete, are tough and can do everything."

More:Why the Peoria Rivermen are SPHL's leaders, and how they'll stay there

Add his leadership qualities and you have Rivermen center Joe Drapluk.

"Jean-Guy Trudel has played the game at the highest level as a player and he coaches with the same success," Drapluk said. "He sees the game through defensive eyes. He teaches it. He has a plan.

"In a way, Macon did me a favor trading me here. It sucked playing against the Peoria Rivermen. But playing for them?

"It's the best."

River Readings

The Rivermen have six players — Alec Hagaman, Alec Baer, JM Piotrowski, Joe Drapluk, Jordan Ernst and Mitch McPherson — on pace to score at least 20 goals. … Called-up Rivermen center Alec Baer has one assist and a minus-7 rating in nine games with Kansas City in the ECHL. … Birmingham has signed goaltender Ben Churchfield, who played 11 games for the Rivermen before his release by Peoria in late January. The Rivermen play at Birmingham next week. … Nigel Slade, who the Rivermen signed in late January and played five games with two assists, then released this week, has signed with Quad City. … Former Rivermen goaltender Josh Benson, released Monday, has been signed by Quad City. … Former Rivermen defenseman Roy Kanda has returned to Vermilion County from a call-up with ECHL Wheeling. … Knoxville has signed 34-year-old defenseman Ryan Ramage, who was retired for nine years before returning to pro hockey last season. … Big defenseman Lordanthony Grissom, who joined the Rivermen out of college for their championship run last spring, is with Greenville in the ECHL after spending 28 games with Allen. He has 31 games, 2 goals, 1 assist and a minus-6 rating. … Former Rivermen defenseman Jake Hamilton has played only eight games in the ECHL this season and was released by Norfolk on Jan. 25.

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 center Joe Drapluk is a twin, unsung hero