Rivermen To Take on Macon Mayhem in First Round of Playoffs
April 7, 2026 - 04:20 pm
PEORIA, IL – The Peoria Rivermen begin their quest for the President’s Cup this week as they take on the Macon Mayhem in the first round of the President’s Cup Playoffs. The first round will be a best-of-three series with the Rivermen (as the first seed in the playoffs) hosting games two and three, while the Macon Mayhem (as the eighth seed) will host game one.
THE DETAILS
The Rivermen will travel to Macon, Georgia, to take on the Mayhem for Game One on Thursday, April 9, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time (6:00 p.m. Central) at the Macon Coliseum. Game Two will take place here in Peoria at Carver Arena on Saturday, April 11, at 7:15 pm. If necessary, Game Three will also be at Carver Arena on Sunday, April 12, at 5:00 pm.
WHY IT MATTERS
This will be the first meeting between the Rivermen and the Mayhem this season and the first post-season meeting since the 2017 President’s Cup Finals, when the Mayhem swept the Rivermen in a best-of-three series two games to none. Peoria has qualified for the playoffs in every season they have been active in the SPHL and are 33-23 in the postseason over the past 11 years under head coach Jean-Guy Trudel.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Peoria ended the season with two close losses to the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs on home ice, falling 3-1 last Friday and 2-1 in overtime on Saturday. Peoria still finished with the best regular season record in the SPHL (38-17-3) and, as a result, enjoys home-ice advantage for the entirety of the post-season.
SCOUTING THE MAYHEM
After a furious finish in which they went 5-5-0 in their last ten games, the Mayhem were able to earn a playoff spot for the first time under second-year head coach Dave Pszenyczny. The Mayhem are making their first post-season appearance since 2020, when they advanced to the semi-finals. Key to this late push has been the play of forward Khaden Henry, who earned SPHL/Warrior Hockey Player of the Week honors for his three goals and three assists (six points) in the last weekend of the season. Henry has nine goals and five assists (14 points) over his last 10 games.
