Rivermen in good position despite warning bells in St Louis

PEORIA, IL – Nothing can strike fear in the heart of a minor league hockey fan more than a public ‘For Sale’ sign. Such is the case for Peoria Rivermen fans, where the St. Louis Blues and the Peoria Rivermen are for sale, publicly, with no prospective buyers.
Rivermen fans are understandably nervous.
You don’t have to look far to see the transient nature of minor league hockey. Just down the road in Bloomington, the PrairieThunder are playing in their third league in their five-year existence.
The facts are, though, that there doesn’t really seem to be a cause for alarm.
Peoria has had professional hockey, continuously, since the Peoria Prancers took the ice at the Peoria Civic Center in 1982. The IHL Prancers became the Rivermen and they eventually won two Turner Cups.
When the IHL started losing traction in the mid-1990’s, the Rivermen jumped to the lower-level ECHL. While Peoria was winning the Kelly Cup, the IHL was going under, completely.
A decade after moving down to the ECHL, the Rivermen moved back up to the AHL and have since been purchased by the same company that owns their parent club, the St. Louis Blues.
That company is now for sale.
What does this mean for the future of the Rivermen? Probably not a lot.
The Rivermen and the Blues have a history. You have only to look at the walls to see the names Twist and Chase displayed predominantly with their numbers retired. So many other former Blues have played in Peoria as well.
Don’t forget that Peoria and St. Louis are just a short drive apart. That’s convenient for the ups-and-downs of the “Peoria Shuttle” as well as scouting and coaching trips.
Peoria is also an important outpost in the DMZ that is Central Illinois. This area of the country is a battle zone where fans of the Chicago Cubs and St. LouisCardinals fight it out every summer. While the area is up for grabs where baseball is concerned, it has been pretty solid supporters of the Chicago Blackhawks, when hockey is the issue. Peoria has been an excellent marketing outpost for the Blues.
Most of all, the Rivermen are developing players without losing tons of money. No NHL team expects to make much money, if any, on their minor league operations. The Rivermen are making steady strides towards a break-even point. They are near 5,000 average attendance and might just be able to reach that magic number by the end of the season.
All in all, there is really no reason for a change.
Contact the author: Shaun.Bill@ProHockeyNews.com Photographer at Chris.Loudermilk@prohockeynews.com