PEORIA, Ill. – The Peoria Rivermen hockey team announced on Thursday that they have extended head coach Jean-Guy Trudel and assistant coach Eric Levine’s contracts through the 2024-25 season.
“We are excited to come to terms with Coach Trudel as our General Manager and Head Coach to again help mold and guide our team on the ice for another season at Carver Arena, as we defend our President’s Cup Championship,” said Rivermen President and COO Bart Rodgers.
With the extension, Trudel enters his eleventh season with the Rivermen and 12th year in Peoria.
In ten seasons with the team, Trudel has an overall record of 362-127-62 in the regular season, and a 31-21 post-season record with the Rivermen. The team, under Trudel’s direction, has clinched a playoff spot in every season, and have been President’s Cup Champions in 2022 and 2024.
Trudel has been given the SPHL Coach of the Year award three times (2014-15, 15-16, and 17-18), becoming the first coach in the SPHL to win the award more than once.
Trudel is the winningest coach in the Rivermen’s 42-year history, and the only coach to lead the Rivermen to multiple championships.
“I am extremely excited to be back in Peoria and have Eric back with me on the bench this year,” Trudel said. “I am also excited about the challenges we will face this year with losing some key players and trying to find athletes that fit our culture. It will be a unique challenge but one which we are excited to overcome.”
After a nine-year playing career, goaltender Eric Levine was announced last fall as the new Assistant Coach with the Peoria Rivermen, following Alec Hagaman’s decision to step down from coaching duties and resume playing hockey.
“The Rivermen organization has a long history with the city of Peoria and winning is part of that history. Helping to build a team that represents that winning culture and embodies what these great fans have come to expect in the SPHL is a privilege,” Levine said. “Working with Jean Guy Trudel last season was a dream situation in my transition from player to coach. No coach has had more sustained success than him, and the amount of passion and knowledge he brings to our athletes every day is contagious. I’m eager to continue that development and help bring another championship to the River City!”
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