This Rivermen turned his career around in Peoria. He's back to win a championship

PEORIA — Alex Carrier turned his career around with the Peoria Rivermen in 2014.

Now he's come full circle in a bid to help the Rivermen win another Southern Professional Hockey League championship.

"I was at home, in a weird place mentally trying to figure out what I wanted to do," Carrier said. "Play hockey or leave it behind? In limbo. It just hit me that I still wanted to play, try to get a championship.

"I remember the mentality that (Rivermen coach) Jean-Guy Trudel has, and they won the Cup last year and he wants another one. So I reached out to him and see if we could work together and try to go back-to-back."

Carrier drove 20 hours to get to Peoria, came right to Carver Arena, pulled on a uniform and earned an assist in his first game Saturday, a win over Knoxville.

He is 31 years old now, but at the SPHL level he's still a prize, an unusual combination of size and power, scoring skill and a track record of applying a zero-tolerance policy with his fists when opponents step out of line. He has 79 career fights.

"He's got so much experience at higher levels of the game," Trudel said. "There's nothing he can't handle. We put him on our penalty-kill and power-play units and gave him responsibilities right away. He knows how to play the game the right way."

Carrier added another assist Thursday, on the first goal of the game, as the Rivermen beat Quad City on the road in a morning student day game, 4-1.

The Rivermen got goals from Joe Drapluk and captain Alec Hagaman in the latter half of the opening period, picked up a second-period goal from defenseman Dale Deon, and closed out the Storm with an empty-netter from Ben Assad with 22 seconds left.

Veteran goaltender Eric Levine made 37 saves to earn his 87th victory as a Rivermen, second all-time on the Peoria franchise goaltender wins list.

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Carrying on

Alex Carrier was at a low point when he came to the Rivermen in the 2014-15 season. He had played three seasons with Val-d'Or Foreurs in the QMJHL, then right to the ECHL for 47 games with Trenton.

In his second pro season, he played 13 games for the New Jersey Devils farm club, Albany, in the American Hockey League, then moved down to ECHL Orlando for 16 more games.

"I went to Albany and got cut and then Orlando and got cut and I almost quit," Carrier said. "I thought my journey was over. Out of the blue, Jean-Guy called me and asked if we could work together.

"I didn't know if it was for me. But I was already in the U.S. so I decided to go there and have fun and it was the best decision I made in my career.

"Peoria gave me a second life in the game, a chance to be happy playing it again."

Today he's a 10-year pro with 394 games played — all but 14 of them at higher levels in the AHL and ECHL.

His journey has taken him to 12 teams, many of them repeat appearances like Peoria, Wheeling, Adirondack, Orlando and others.

It was Adirondack, where he played in 2015-16, that he found a love for something else.

"I met my wife, Suzanne, there," Carrier said. "We live in Vermont, outside Burlington. Just the two of us, loving our freedom and our trips in the summer to Hawaii."

Growing up in a hockey haven

Carrier grew up in St-Elzéar, Quebec, a tiny farm town of less than 3,000 east of Quebec City and north of Prince Edward Island.

Rejean Carrier and his wife, Claudine, had four boys, Alex, Mathieu, Marc-Antoine, Francois.

Rejean Carrier played at a high level of junior hockey for Sherbrooke, and his love for the game rubbed off on his son.

"We all played hockey growing up," Carrier said. "My dad got me into the game. You are born with skates on your feet, and skating on the pond at age 3."

His father's love for the Montreal Canadiens, however, did not reach Carrier.

"My team was the Boston Bruins — I didn't disclose that openly to family, I know how unconventional that was," Carrier said, laughing. "The rest of the family was diehard Canadiens fans. Dad would go to the Forum and watch them, a big Guy Lafleur fan.

"Every time Montreal played against Boston the tension escalated in our house, rooting against Boston. I just wanted to piss everyone off when I was young, so I'd root for Boston. They had Marchant, Bergeron, really good players.

"My favorite player growing up was (6-3, 240-pound Boston left wing) Milan Lucic. He was tough and hungry, skilled and had skating abilities."

Just like Carrier.

He inherited his will to keep pressing on, though, from his father.

"I think that willingness to move comes from my dad," Carrier said. "He was a business owner (the family sold minerals and vitamins for farm animals), gone through a lot of hardship in his life as an owner.

"With everything he's been through, he never gave up, he kept going, never accepted his fate. Always persevered and found a way to make it work. That's my mentality throughout my career, my willingness to keep playing for different teams.

"If I'd have given up, I wouldn't have had all the experiences I did, or even met my wife."

Rejean Carrier died of brain cancer at age 62 on July 21, 2021. His son feels the void.

"It's the only fight he ever lost," Carrier said. "He was the pillar of the family. It's a big hole."

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Joining the defending champions

Carrier ran across people with Peoria ties during his hockey travels. When he played in Atlanta in the ECHL, the captain there was veteran winger Derek Nesbitt, a great player from Peoria's AHL era.

"I know that Derek mentioned Peoria, we talked about it and only good things to talk about," Carrier said. "The city, the fans, the organization.

"Now I'm back here and I've been playing 10 years and never won a championship. At Adirondack, we made it to the conference final and lost in double-overtime, just heartbreaking. So I'm here with a purpose."

He trusts Jean-Guy Trudel.

"I will bring work ethic and mentality and get back in hockey shape on the ice," Carrier said. "But I know he'll put me in situations I don't get the chance to play in ECHL. Going on the penalty kill and power play right away, those are massive things I'm grateful for."

The dream line

If you want a glimpse at the mentality a pro hockey player's mentality, how he sees the game, ask him who he'd dream of playing with in the NHL.

"My dream linemates would be Maurice Richard because he did so much for the game, such a big influence in Quebec," Carrier said. "And Wayne Gretzky. To play with him and his mentality and the plays he was able to make at the highest level of the game. Astonishing. So efficient and consistent."

Carrier is settled in and joins the Rivermen in their pursuit of a repeat.

"Jean-Guy Trudel made me a better player and a better human being, he gave me a second chance at loving playing hockey," said Carrier, referring to 2014-15. "The fans are amazing and the team is tremendous. I'm here to help him get the one thing I've never had.

"A championship ring."

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: Alex Carrier returns to chase SPHL title