From ponds to Peoria: Rookie wing a hit in his Rivermen debut, despite the loss

PEORIA — Jack Jaunich looked good on film.

But the reality show version was even better Friday when he made his debut with the Peoria Rivermen.

The newly signed rookie right wing stood out despite being in a lineup surrounded by elite veteran forwards, who had a tough outing in a 1-0 Rivermen loss to Quad City before 3,823 at Carver Arena.

Jaunich turned the corner on multiple Quad City defenders, revved up a high motor effort on shift after shift, and lived around the net creating scoring chances for himself and linemates Joe Drapluk and Austin Wisely.

Box score: Quad City 1, Rivermen 0 | SPHL standings

"I've been watching him, tracking him, for a year-and-a-half now," Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel said, grinning broadly. "I was evaluating Lordanthony Grissom on tape before our playoff run last spring. And this No. 19 kept popping up, and I watched him more and more and loved the way he could play."

It was Jaunich, a teammate for three years with Grissom at NCAA Division III Aurora University.

Trudel kept in touch with the Aurora coaching staff and watched Jaunich all season, targeting him as a spring addition for the Rivermen. Grissom came in last spring and helped the Rivermen to an SPHL championship run. They are hoping Jaunich gives the team a needed spark to fuel a repeat.

The kid from White Bear Lake

The 6-foot, 185-pound Jaunich grew up in White Bear Lake, Minn., a small town of 23,000 northeast of Minneapolis-St. Paul.

White Bear Lake has Indian mounds located on its northern shores, and it was named after a Sioux Indian legend that says a tribal hunter killed a white bear there and the bear's spirit is still present.

Jaunich's spirit was in full view Friday, and there was no question he loves to play hockey, displaying a hungry, hunter's approach to pursuing puck and opponent.

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"I fell in love with hockey playing on the frozen ponds," Jaunich said. "I'm from a large family — seven kids — and I had some brothers and you know that gets competitive, so you play hard. I'm the oldest of the hockey players in our family."

He was a Wild fan as a kid, but found himself rooting for Blackhawks star Patrick Kane.

He got serious about the game and headed off to play junior hockey with the NAHL's Shreveport Mudbugs, where he spent three seasons, wore an "A" and scored 15 goals with 29 assists in 136 games, plus another 19 postseason contests.

It was on to Aurora University after that, where he ran into Grissom.

Lordanthony sent him Peoria's way

Jaunich is proud of the Aurora program. He notes in his first year there they managed only 12 wins and had seven tie games. By the time he and Lordanthony Grissom were done, the program had set a school record with 18 wins. Grissom had an SPHL championship ring with Peoria. And Jaunich was ready to turn pro this month.

Jaunich was a big part of Aurora's success. He earned American Hockey Coaches Association NCAA Division III All-America honors this week.

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And he finished his college career as Aurora's all-time scoring leader.

Then he had a little reunion in the ECHL and some parting advice.

He went straight to ECHL Savannah first, where he made his pro debut and played three games. One of them was against Greenville, where Grissom is rostered. They faced each other and got after it, then laughed about it afterward.

"L.A. told me all about Peoria," Jaunich said. "The culture, this arena, the banners hanging in it and the history of this organization. He said it was the best place to play. He said this is where I should go."

And so the rookie right out of college is getting adjusted to the pro game on a team that is the defending champion and in first place.

"It's not easy coming into a new team, especially one that's in first place and has so many good hockey players," Jaunich said of his new Rivermen surroundings. "But these guys have been great, and I feel like I fit."

The Rivermen dominated and lost

OK, it's a slump now. The Rivermen lost at home to Quad City, 1-0, for the second time in as many games. It marked the first time in Peoria's SPHL history the team has been shut out twice on home ice in the same season.

But this particular final score didn't really tell the tale of the game. It was 90% Quad City goaltender Kevin Resop and 10% grossly bad puck luck.

Peoria twice hit posts that stopped play, drew no red lights, and proved to be no-goals. The second time it happened the goal horns, celebration smoke and dimming arena lights came with it. But never a red light.

Quad City got the game's only goal from Cole Golka at 12:06 of the second period, a big rebound in the slot that he filled easily into an open net with Peoria goaltender Jack Berry down and out.

The rest of the game — before that goal and after — was played in Resop's face. The Rivermen spent long stretches, five-on-five, in Quad City's zone, 45 seconds, a minute, 90 seconds. They piled up a 16-4 shooting edge midway through the game, then 28-11, then 43-13.

Peoria's forwards spent too much time in the first 40 minutes on the perimeter, but those 43 shots were not fluff. Analytics broke down legit scoring chances at 30-6.

"We win that game," Trudel said. "99 times out of 100."

River Readings

The Rivermen have lost six of their last nine games, and have seen a 10-point lead shrink to one in a race that has tightened to the point Birmingham and Huntsville could push Peoria down to third. ... The Rivermen have been beaten 1-0 in consecutive games at Carver Arena by Quad City, and have gone 130 minutes, 18 seconds without a goal against the Storm over their last three meetings. Peoria's last goal against Quad City came from JM Piotrowski in a 3-2 win on March 10. ... The pair of shutout losses to Quad City marks the first time in the Rivermen's SPHL era they have been blanked at home more than once in a single season. Could be a lot worse: the last time a Rivermen team was shut out at home more than twice was in the 2012-13 AHL season, when they were blanked seven times. ... With three games left in the Rivermen-Quad City season series, the Rivermen need one more point to clinch the annual Cold War on I-74 Trophy against the Storm. The trophy, commissioned by a Moline radio station in 2018-19, has never left Peoria. The Rivermen have won it all three seasons it has been contested. ... The Rivermen play a rematch at Quad City on Saturday, then come back to Carver Arena for a Family Fun Day outing against the Storm at 3:15 p.m. Tickets for kids 12-under are $7 in the upper bowl, and all fans are invited to skate with the Rivermen players after the game.

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: From ponds to Peoria: Rookie wing a hit in debut for Rivermen despite loss