Everything to know about the Rivermen championship celebration in Peoria
Dave Eminian
PEORIA — The Peoria Rivermen will celebrate their SPHL President's Cup championship with the community on Friday evening with a downtown parade followed by a presentation at the Peoria Civic Center.
The team will parade the Cup at 5:30 p.m. through the streets of downtown Peoria, culminating with a gathering at Exhibit Hall A-B in the Civic Center.
Doors open for that party at 5:30 p.m. and there are chairs and bleachers set up for seating.
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The victory parade route
The 5:30 p.m. parade will start via fire truck at the Gateway Building, then proceed up Main Street to Jefferson Avenue. They'll turn left onto Jefferson Avenue and head to the Civic Center, concluding outside the Civic Center exhibit halls A-B, on a stretch of Jefferson near Liberty Street.
The team invites all downtown businesses to participate in the celebration.
The Exhibit Hall victory show
The onstage ceremony in the exhibit hall will begin at 6:30 p.m., with doors opening at 5:30 p.m.
Admission is free to the post-parade victory party in the exhibit halls. Parking is not free, as other events are happening at the Civic Center facility.
That celebration will feature remarks by Peoria-born Rivermen captain Alec Hagaman as he presents the President's Cup to the fans. The players, coaches, team staff and team mascot, Rocky, will be introduced.
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Following the ceremony, the players, coaches and team staff will be available for pictures and autographs. The President's Cup will be available for fans to take pictures with. The Civic Center concession area will also be open.
Championship merchandise
The Rivermen will have an inventory of SPHL President's Cup championship merchandise on hand, including locker room championship T-shirts, hats, three versions of championship pucks, on-ice championship photos.
Those items can also be purchased via the Rivermen online store.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.