The Peoria Rivermen were founded in 1982–83 in the International Hockey League, operating under owner
Ken Wilson as the
Peoria Prancers. The franchise was taken over by the Peoria Civic Center in 1984, which held a contest with the
Peoria Journal Star newspaper to rename the team with Rivermen as the winner. The IHL's Peoria Rivermen began operations for the
1984–85 season and won the
Turner Cup in their first season. They were bought by Bruce Saurs in the summer of 1989, and he owned the club for 19 seasons. Following several season of financial losses, Saurs sold 50% of the ownership in the IHL franchise in 1996 and relocated it as the
San Antonio Dragons. Saurs then launched the
Rivermen in the
East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) beginning with the 1996–97 season. They held professional hockey's longest
winning streak at 18 games in 1991 until the
Norfolk Admirals of the
American Hockey League broke the record by winning 28 consecutive games in 2012. Former owner Bruce Saurs died in July 2014. The
St. Louis Blues owe their "Towel Man" tradition to the Rivermen. According to the Towel Man himself, Ron Baechle, he and friend Monsignor Matthew Mitas attended a Rivermen game in 1990 where they saw their post-goal tradition, which Mitas suggested Baechle copy in St. Louis. It's been a Blues tradition ever since, even making its way into
EA Sports's
NHL Video Game Series. ==References==