Opening Night: Colored smoke, mascots, fights, goals and a feel-good Rivermen win

PEORIA — Opening Night for the Peoria Rivermen always feels like the celebration of a long relationship between professional hockey and central Illinois, less about the game being played that night, much more a renewal of a love for the team that plays it.

The Rivermen opened their 45^th season on Saturday with a 4-1 victory over expansion Pee Dee in front of 6,539 at Carver Arena.

It’s a yearly exchange of promises, the fans there to lift the team and support it through 60 games and playoffs, the team there to win games, entertain and try to create a core memory with a championship at the end of it in the spring.

Both sides have kept those vows, as the Rivermen have won the league’s regular-season point championship eight times in 13 seasons and collected two President’s Cup titles.

Those campaigns have started with a feel-good night like Saturday, when the Rivermen increased their home opener all-time record to 10-3-0 in the SPHL.

“It’s important to win on Opening Night,” veteran Rivermen winger Mike McChesney said. “You have a few jitters on Opening Night, you want everything to go well. That crowd, such energy, it was so loud I couldn’t even hear myself shout.”

And McChesney had a lot to shout about, screaming with pure joy after scoring two power plays goals 94 seconds apart in the final two minutes of the second period to break a scoreless tie and unleash an emotional soundwave in the grandstand.

“I love Opening Night,” Rivermen veteran center Garrett Devine said. “It feels like such a big game.”

Something old …

Opening Night was definitely a celebration that included something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

What would fill the old category? Well, a couple ancient media guys covering the opener would work, me for the Journal Star, Eddie Hammond as the new play-by-play voice for the Rivermen. Together, we accounted for 137 years on press row.

Hammond is reprising his role with the team held decades ago, and he sounded terrific, nailing the goal calls.

Something new …

This one is easy. The Civic Center worked through $5 million in renovations during the summer to demolish the old Carver Arena floor, pull out the ancient ice-making plant, and drop in new pipes and machinery. The project is done and the ice looked and played great Saturday.

The dasher boards and the protective glass are also brand new. The glass is a comparable NHL-caliber system put in by Athletica Sports Systems, with see-through stanchions and wider panes in the straightaway sections.

Renovations to the hockey setup in Carver Arena started May 15 and finished Friday.

Also new: The Rivermen introduced a third mascot, Digger. It’s a fuzzy, soft puck-shaped character named after the business that is underwriting it, CALL JULIE. He joins longtime mascots Rocky and the Captain.

Something borrowed

If you went to the game Saturday, you noticed two huge pieces of machinery hooked up in the Civic Center parking lot, with cold pipes connecting them down the ramp into the pit parking garage and hooking up to the new ice plant.

It’s a temporary situation, while the Civic Center works toward finishing the machinery that needs connecting to the new ice system down in the pit. So they brought in the same portable chiller machinery used to build outdoor rinks for the NHL’s annual Winter Classic.

Something blue …

Rivermen veteran goaltender Nick Latinovich has retired his white pads with yellow trim used the last few seasons.

He was in the net Saturday with new pads that were deep blue.

How 4-1 happened

The game was scoreless for nearly the first 40 minutes, while Latinovich made a few big saves to keep the Rivermen even.

The game turned in the final three minutes of the second period, though, when Pee Dee got itself into trouble with three consecutive penalties. The Rivermen ended up with a pair of five-on-three advantages and an initial four-on-three and broke the game open.

McChesney ripped the first one from the left circle past goaltender Sebastian Woods before he could slide across to the left post at 18:11.

With 14.4 seconds left in the period and Pee Dee with five players in the penalty box, McChesney struck again, walking out of the left circle to the low slot and burning Woods for 2-0.

Rivermen and Pee Dee in a developing situation 5:38 into the third period. The Pee Dee guy who pulled the pro wrestling move off the top rope is Kaydn Fennell. Should be gone imo pic.twitter.com/JSA2nVCTcL

— Dave Eminian (@icetimecleve) October 25, 2026

Rookie winger Carson Riddle made it 3-1 in the third period, and captain Alec Baer closed it out with an empty-netter on a long bank-shot off the boards.

“This was only our second game and we played better,” Rivermen head coach Jean-Guy Trudel said. “I thought we were more organized. We didn’t give Pee Dee much, and every goal in the game was special teams (and an empty-netter).

“Opening Night is always a big energy lift, and you don’t want to let your fans down. We responded and got it done and it was a fun night.”

River Readings

Former Rivermen play-by-play voice Tom Callahan is the general manager of expansion Pee Dee. … Rivermen center Garrett Devine notched two assists and turned in a splendid outing. … Peoria defenseman Kylar Fenton had a three-assist game. … Rivermen scoring ace Mike McChesney had 10 shots on goal. … The Rivermen went with forward lines Alec Baer centering McChesney and Connor Szmul; Devine centering Everett Pietila and Davis Kirkendall; Will Redick centering Cayden Cahill and Carson Riddle. … Fenton paired with Braydon Barker on defense, while Brendan Boyce was with Gunner Moore. … Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel says he is considering tasking center and captain Alec Baer with shifts on defense. … Rivermen top six forward Mike Gelatt was on family leave and missed the opener. … An SPHL directive this season prohibits coaches from talking to on-ice officials during the game. They can only initiate a conversation with officials at the start of each period, before play begins.