PEORIA — This was the goodbye there won't be time for later, the regular-season SPHL champion Peoria Rivermen spending a postgame at Carver Arena with hugs, autographs, pictures, selling game-worn jerseys, sharing one last close time with another big crowd Saturday.
It was a regular-season finale, a 3-2 shootout tiebreaker win over Quad City that lifted 6,462 to a frenzy at the end of a magnificent season-long title defense marked by record performances and record adversity.
"We weren't at our best for sure," Rivermen head coach Jean-Guy Trudel said. "But the crowd was just phenomenal and we felt them. We've gone through so much with this team, six of my nine forwards are gone from last season and one defenseman is back.
"It's incredible. This team knows what it can do, but it needs to do it every night."
The 40-10-6 Rivermen finished with 86 points, the third-highest point total in league history and third-highest win total in league history.
They'll face three rounds of best-of-3 playoff series now, and unless they go the distance and repeat as champions, their season will end with handshakes at center ice and without a goodbye to their fans.
So Saturday, really, was that opportunity. Now they just play, and it's parade or nothing.
The game literally had no bearing on anything on the ice -- all eight playoff teams were locked into their seeds -- but it meant a lot to the fans, who stayed long after to mingle with their team.
It meant a lot to the Peoria front office staff under co-owner Bart Rogers, who saw his franchise set a single-season attendance record in its 11-year long SPHL era, logging 123,173 spectators for 28 games and a 4,399 per game average.
"I'm so proud of our staff, how hard they worked to make this season happen and to see our attendance increasing every year, it's rewarding," Rogers said. "And we are grateful for these fans, they come in here and support this team, support pro hockey and we love to entertain them, give them a good experience."
Rivermen playoff schedule, tickets
The Rivermen are the No. 1 seed and have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. They finished the regular-season with two wins over Quad City this weekend, and now will turn around and face them in the first round of postseason play.
No. 2 seed Huntsville will face No. 7 Evansville; No. 3 Roanoke will play No. 6 Knoxville, and No. 4 Birmingham plays No. 5 Fayetteville.
Here is the first-round schedule for the No. 1 Rivermen vs No. 8 Quad City:
● Game 1, Thursday: Quad City at Peoria, Carver Arena, 7:15 p.m.
● Game 2, Friday: Peoria at Quad City, Vibrant Arena, tba.
● Game 3 (if needed), Sunday: Quad City at Peoria, 3:15 p.m.
Tickets for the games in Peoria are $26 for glass seats; $22 for premium (lower bowl straightaway); $16 for Pilot House, and $15 for upper bowl.
They can be purchased through the team at (309) 676-1040.
A first pro goal
Rivermen rookie defenseman Kylar Fenton, the son of former IHL-era Rivermen winger Eric Fenton, notched his first pro goal at 7:11 of the third period.
Peoria defenseman Brenden Rons came out of the penalty box and blasted a Quad City player in the neutral zone, then teammate Mike Gelatt followed seconds later with a ...
