Peoria Rivermen awards announced at annual booster club banquet; team readies for playoff chase
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PEORIA — The Peoria Rivermen have already locked up the No. 1 seed for the upcoming SPHL playoffs.
Before that trophy chase begins, they celebrated some traditional team awards Wednesday with the Rivermen Captain Boosters Club at their annual spring banquet.
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The event was part of a night of dinner, desserts, drinks and fellowship at Raber Packing (3000 W. Farmington Rd., West Peoria).
"The booster club does so much for us and the organization," Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel said. "Without them, the Rivermen would not be the same. For the fans, hopefully they are appreciative of the effort these players are putting in for the community over the past 10 years. Sometimes, we forget how hard it is to finish first in the regular season and this team has done it seven times.
"We forget how hard it is to reach the President's Cup Finals and we've done that five times, and we forget how we've won it all twice in four years.
"Expectations are high every year, but to do it year in and year out takes enormous buy-in, effort, playing injured, being pushed hard and keep on performing because we want to make the city proud."
The Mark Olson Trophy went to right wing Mike McChesney, while the Pete BardezBanian Award went to right wing Daniel Chartrand and the Bruce Saurs Leadership Award went to defenseman Josh Martin.
The Mark Olson Trophy
The honor is named for Mark Olson, one of the pioneers of hockey in central Illinois, a member of the Rivermen Hall of Fame and Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame, among others.
It is presented to the Rivermen player who represents dedication to the sport and the community.
Olson died at age 98 on Jan. 3, and Wednesday marked the first time he was not present at the banquet to present the trophy in his name.
His son, Mike Olson, took over that role and announced the hardware was won by McChesney, the league's goalscoring leader. He has 31 goals, including 11 game-winners, in 49 games.
"This is my 43rd banquet," Olson said. "I've been around the game for 77 years and I've never seen an organization better than this one. This banquet, it's wonderful. My job here tonight is to present the Mark Olson Trophy, and it's a real pleasure that it goes to Michael McChesney."
The Mark Olson Trophy
(Past winners from IHL, ECHL, AHL, SPHL eras)
1986 — Bob “The Hammer” Fleming, w.1987 — Mike Posavad, d.1988 — Dave Thomlinson, w.1989 — Darrell May, g.1990 — Richard Pion, w.1991 — Dave Thomlinson, w.1992 — Richard Pion, w.1993 — Ron Hoover, c.1994 — Michel Mongeau, c.1995 — Rene Chapdelaine, d.1996 — Ron Hoover, c.1997 — Butch Kaebel, w.1998 — Jean-Guy Trudel, w.1999 — Joe Rybar, c.2000 — Duane Derksen, g.2001 — Blaine Fitzpatrick, w.2002 — Phil Osaer, g.2003 — Duane Derksen, g and Randy Rowe, w.2004 — Marty Johnson, c.2005 — Randy Rowe, w.2006 — Charles Linglet, w.2007 — Charles Linglet, w.2008 — Aaron MacKenzie, d.2009 — Trent Whitfield, c.2010 — Chris Porter, w.2011 — David Spina, w.2012 — Kyle Hagel, w.2013 — Mike McKenna, g.2014 — Cole Ruwe, d.2015 — Cole Ruwe, d.2016 — Mark Corbett, d.2017 — Ben Oskroba, d.2018 — Alec Hagaman, w.2019 — Ben Oskroba, d, and Mike Gurtler, w.2020 — Robin Hoglund, w, and Drake Hunter, w.2021 — no season/pandemic.2022 — Alec Hagaman, w.2023 — Nick Neville, d.2024 — Joe Drapluk, c.2025 — Alec Baer, c.2026 — Mike McChesney, rw
The Pete BardezBanian Award
The late BardezBanian and Mark Olson worked together to build the game in Peoria more than a half-century ago. He is in the Rivermen Hall of Fame and the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame.
Rivermen right wing Daniel Chartrand was named to the award, presented by the booster club to its most popular player.
"Thank you for taking the time to support us," said Chartrand, who has brought a tough presence to the lineup for 48 games. "I love you all … from the bottom of my heart."
Pete BardezBanian Award
(Past winners from IHL, ECHL, AHL, SPHL eras)
1983 — Brad Kempthorne, c.1984 — Jerry August, d.1985 — Bob “The Hammer” Fleming, w.1986 — Bob “The Hammer” Fleming, w.1987 — John Vecchiarelli, c.1988 — Grant Rezansoff, c.1989 — Darrell May, g.1990 — Richard Pion, w.1991 — Richard Pion, w.1992 — Richard Pion, w.1993 — Richard Pion, w.1994 — Geoff Sarjeant, g.1995 — Parris Duffus, g.1996 — Ron Hoover, c.1997 — Dustin McArthur, w.1998 — Jean-Guy Trudel, w and Marcel Kuris, g.1999 — Joe Rybar, c.2000 — Luke Gruden, d.2001 — Tyler Willis, c.2002 — Ryan Finnerty, c.2003 — Duane Derksen, g.2004 — Ken Goetz, w.2005 — Alfie Michaud, g.2006 — Colin Hemingway, w.2007 — Cam Keith, w.2008 — Jean-Guy Trudel, w.2009 — Eric Neilson, w.2010 — Derek Armstrong, c.2011 — Jake Allen, g.2012 — Kyle Hagel, w.2013 — Mike McKenna, g.2014 — Taylor Larsen, w.2015 — Matt Summers, w.2016 — Matt Summer, w.2017 — Ben Oskroba, d.2018 — Mike Economos, w.2019 — Austin Vieth, w.2020 — Skyler Smutek, d.2021 — no season/pandemic.2022 — Zach Wilkie, d.2023 — Zach Wilkie, d.2024 — Tristan Trudel, w.2025 — Jordan Ernst, w-d.2026 — Daniel Chartrand, rw
Bruce Saurs Leadership Award
Chosen by Trudel, it went to defenseman Josh Martin.
"Josh Martin is the ultimate leader and a phenomenal professional that love the Rivermen and is respected and trusted by all our players and staff," Trudel said.
The late Saurs was the longtime owner of the Rivermen, and saved the franchise when he bought it nearly 40 years ago. His ownership touched Rivermen eras in the old class-AAA International Hockey League, class-AA ECHL, class-AA American Hockey League and then in the high-A SPHL.
That latter was a moment in which he came through for the community to help save pro hockey in central Illinois.
Bruce Saurs Leadership Award
(Past winners from IHL, ECHL, AHL, SPHL eras)
2015 — Cole Ruwe, d.2016 — Ben Oskroba, d.2017 — Dan Bremner, lw, and Ben Oskroba, d.2018 — Mike Economos, w, and Will Smith, c.2019 — Ben Oskroba, d.2020 — Eric Levine, g.2021 — no season/pandemic.2022 — Eric Levine, g.2023 — Ben Assad, c.2024 — Jordan Ernst, w-d.2025 — Zach Wilkie, d.2026 — Josh Martin, d
Source: Dave Eminian, Journal Star archives, Peoria Rivermen archives.
Five games to go
The Rivermen are back on the ice Friday at Evansville, then return to Carver Arena for games Saturday and Sunday against Evansville.
The Saturday game includes a ticket discount to $6 for all upper bowl seats and select lower bowl, and pre-sale is approaching 8,000.
"All eight teams that will be in the playoffs will be equal, with all the changes teams have gone through this season," Trudel said. "It's about gaining momentum at the right time, managing consistency, and getting some breaks along the way. The biggest reason we finished in first place is because we had the most consistency in the way we play."
River Readings
Former Peoria Rivermen coach Don Granato has been selected as the coach for the U.S. men's National Team at the 2026 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships. Granato led the Rivermen to the Kelly Cup championship in the ECHL in 1999-2000, and went on to an NHL head coaching position with Buffalo.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star senior writer and 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 [email protected]. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria Rivermen collect team awards at annual booster club banquet