PEORIA, Ill – I hated Jason Christie.
I wasn’t alone in that regard, either. Several thousand other Peoria Rivermen fans hated him, too.
I was a season ticket holder with the Peoria Rivermen for several years when Peoria was part of the ECHL. My wife and I sat on the glass in the corner.
During the 1998-99 season, a frequent opponent of the Rivermen was the Columbus Chill. They had a little agitator named Jason Christie. In our section, we were up close t the players during face-offs. One of the guys on the end of our row, “Big Steve” would try distracting Christie during face-offs by pounding on the glass and yelling Christie’s nickname – “Smurf!”
The Internet Hockey Database entry on Jason Christie shows he played 35 games for the Chill that season (their final season.) I would, conservatively, estimate that 34 of those games were against the Rivermen that season.
Christie was the focus of opposing fans, he was short – generously listed as 5’8″ (maybe in skates). We saw a lot of him while we sat in the corners. He was never afraid to venture there on the backcheck.
In anticipation of an NHL team moving in, the Chill closed up shop at the end of that season. The Rivermen hired their coach, Don Granato, and he brought Christie along as player/coach and captain.
As fans, we had to adjust. Chirstie brought his agitating ways with him.
64 games
56 points
199 penalties in minutes
The Rivermen won the ECHL championship that season – the Kelly Cup.
It was a gutsy performance by Christie, who played through injury to assist on the game winning goal in overtime. After the game, he told his teammates he was retiring. At age 31, he was done playing hockey.
He has presided over every Rivermen game at the Peoria Civic Center, since. An enormous display, spanning 5 sections of seats, hangs along the wall featuring players from that championship team, In the center of it all, is Jason Christie. It is that image of Christie – the Kelly Cup raised over his head, mouth open in a primal scream – that is indelible to Rivermen fans.
As often happens, a championship brings a promotion for the winning coach. Granato went up and Christie was the logical choice to fill his shoes. His 233 victories in five seasons behind the Peoria bench are more than anyone in the nearly 30-year history of the team. For that, he was inducted into the Peoria Rivermen Hall of Fame on Friday night. Congratulations, Jason Christie. Once heckled and hated, now welcomed with open arms into the Peoria Rivermen Hall of Fame. Contact the author: Shaun.Bill@ProHockeyNews.com
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