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PEORIA — The Peoria Rivermen would love it if Kylar Fenton follows in his father's footsteps.
His father, Eric Fenton, scored one of the iconic goals in the 43-year-history of the Rivermen franchise during their IHL era.
Now the younger Fenton has made his pro debut with the Rivermen, who upgraded him from a tryout contract to a full SPHL deal on Saturday.
He made his pro debut last week in Pensacola, then played his first home game in Carver Arena on Friday and another Saturday, where the Rivermen beat the Ice Flyers, 5-0, before 4,230 to sweep the weekend series.
Record crowd: Peoria Rivermen hockey rides whirlwind of emotion in front of record-setting crowd
Rivermen veteran winger/defenseman Jordan Ernst notched his 35th goal in Saturday's win, giving him the most in a single-season for the Peoria franchise in 20 years.
Kylar Fenton, meanwhile, came to Peoria last week after finishing his college career at Gustavus Adolphus College.
The 24-year-old defenseman is the nephew of NHL referee Wes McCauley, and is well-schooled in Peoria's history and tradition from his father, Eric's, time here.
"He gave me a few stories, but I've heard quite a bit from his Peoria, Milwaukee days," Fenton said. "I've heard great things about Carver Arena, the fans. He loved his playing time here, it was a really cool experience."
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Fenton grew up in Milwaukee and played junior hockey, among his stops including the Waywayseecapo Wolverines in 2018-19, the same team for which Rivermen winger Carson Baptiste played three seasons. He went on to play four seasons for Gustavus Adolphus, where he was captain and produced seven goals and 18 assists in 92 career games.
"We won the MIAC championship and then lost first round of the tourney," Fenton said. "I was ready to hang them up. But I got a call (from Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel), and I thought it might be the only opportunity."
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Facing the end on April 28, 1996
On April 28, 1996, the Rivermen were not only trying to avoid elimination from the IHL playoffs, but elimination from their IHL era. They were scheduled to move down to the ECHL the next season, so they skated into a series against the Midwest Division champion Milwaukee Admirals trying to extend an era.
Eric Fenton scored the game-winner on a goal both sides called one of the ugliest goals they'd ever seen.
Peoria trailed 3-0 at Milwaukee in a best-of-5 series that was knotted at 2-2. A dramatic comeback followed, finished off by Fenton.
With under two minutes to play, Peoria enforcer Barry Nieckar skated to the Milwaukee blueline along the left boards and dumped the puck routinely toward the net.
The puck took an odd ricochet off the endboards and bounced back out toward the slot, past goaltender Mark LaForest. It reached the slot just as Fenton and Milwaukee's Mike Tomlak locked up and slid down the chute toward the goalmouth.
LaForest couldn't hold them, or the puck, out of the net as more than 400 pounds of players knocked the puck out of his glove.
Fenton's game-winner came at 18:09 of third, and he was a hero in a game in which he scored two goals, had an assist, and pushed the Rivermen into the next round with a 5-4 road win.
"I couldn't believe it just bounced right out to me, right in the slot," Eric Fenton said after that game. "It just jammed me a little. I got the heel of my stick on it and I guess their guy just slid the puck right in. I knew it was in. I was sitting in the crease and there was no puck anywhere else. That's why I raised my hands."
Fenton played parts of two seasons with the Rivermen for a total of 41 games, scoring three goals. Ironically, he signed with Milwaukee the next season and played four seasons there.
He is 55 now and spent three seasons as head coach of NA3HL Oregon Tradesmen. The team moved to Blaine, Minn., this season with a new coaching staff and name, as the Minnesota Moose.
Kylar Fenton gets to work
Kylar Fenton was part of the Peoria blueline unit that shut out Pensacola on Friday night and blanked them again Saturday. He's fitting in on a regular-season championship team that has worked its way through a single-season franchise-record 60 players this season.
"I'm super-appreciative of my family and our hockey ties," Fenton said. "My dad's advice to me about the pro game is to give no cares, go out and give it your all and be a great teammate.
"You want to live up to those standards. We'll see how things go. I love this game."
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Jordan Ernst's greatest season
Rivermen veteran winger/defenseman Jordan Ernst notched his 35th goal in Saturday's win, giving him the most in a single season for the Peoria franchise in 20 years. Ernst's effort has come in 52 games, and is the most scored in Peoria's SPHL era. Brian McCullough notched 39 goals in 71 games for the Rivermen in the 2004-05 ECHL season.
The top single-season goalscoring efforts in Rivermen franchise history:
- 64, David Bruce (IHL), 60 games, 1990-91
- 60, Paul Fenton, (IHL), 82 games, 1982-83
- 53, Dave Thomlinson (IHL), 80 games, 1990-91
- 53, Ron Handy, (IHL), 78 games, 1987-88
A captain in the house
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Retired Peoria-born Rivermen captain Alec Hagaman was in Carver Arena on Saturday, watching his old team knock out a win over Pensacola.
Hagaman was in town to be honored as the Great Peoria Sports Hall of Fame's Tri-County Male Athlete of the Year in a banquet at the Civic Center.
He wasn't alone, either, as spent the rest of his night watching the game with retired Rivermen players all in town to see the team.
"The memories we created, it's why players come back here all the time," Hagaman said. "It's really cool to have so many of us down here. I've always said, 'This is my NHL.' I treated it like it was.
"I'm proud to be honored by the (GPSHOF) tonight, I got to play with some great teammates during my time here and I never would have achieved such an award without them."
Hagaman led the Rivermen to the SPHL's President's Cup last spring in a storybook run that preceded his retirement. He moved with his family to Wisconsin in the offseason, but he's kept an eye on the 2024-25 Rivermen title defense.
"They have something special going in," Hagaman said. "I've watched a lot of games, and I didn't see a team as strong as this one."
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River Readings
Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel notched the 400th win of his coaching career in the SPHL, an ongoing league record. … The Rivermen placed two elite players -- likely SPHL Defenseman of the Year Zach Wilkie and top line winger Mike McChesney -- on 14-day IR on Saturday, a day after both suffered significant ankle injuries in a game against Pensacola. Both suffered significant sprains that will make them unavailable for the first round, and probably the second round, of the playoffs. Wilkie's sprain is the worst of the two, and he could be out for the season. ... The Rivermen drew 13,739 to Carver Arena for their two weekend home games. … The Rivermen shut out Pensacola four times this season, and three straight times in six days. Pensacola has not scored a goal in 193 minutes, 57 seconds, touching its last four games. … Local recording artist Marquise Henderson was invited to sing the national anthem on Saturday, and belted out a magnificent rendition. ... The Rivermen are 38-10-5 and, with the regular-season championship and playoff No. 1 seed locked up, will face Quad City, Evansville or Knoxville in a best-of-3 first round. Those three teams are separated by four points. ... The Rivermen close out the regular-season with a road game at Evansville on Sunday, then a home-away two-game set with Quad City next weekend.
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 [email protected]. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria Rivermen add family tie to iconic goal during weekend home sweep
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