On Thursday, July 28, Peoria Rivermen co-owner
Bruce Saurs was honored by the South-West Kiwanis Club, the Peoria-area chapter of Kiwanis International. At a luncheon meeting at the Radisson Hotel Peoria, the Club lauded
Saurs for his contributions to high school, college, and professional sports in the Peoria area over the last fifty-plus years.
Former Peoria Mayor and Central Illinois real estate baron Jim Maloof represented the Club in honoring
Saurs at the ceremony. In the words of Maloof, the Club sincerely appreciated how
Saurs had “soared like an eagle above the sports scene in Peoria.” To go along with those words, Maloof presented
Saurs with a sculpture of an eagle that is inscribed with the following:
THANK YOU, BRUCE SAURS. Like the eagle, you have been soaring over and contributing to Central Illinois sports as player, coach, and owner for over 50 years. Our community is better because of you.
South-West Kiwanis Club, 2005Now entering his 17th season as an owner of the Peoria Rivermen Hockey Club,
Saurs has been an integral part of the 24-year history of professional hockey in Central Illinois. He attended his first professional hockey game on April 15, 1989, and then purchased the Rivermen on June 29 of that year after being convinced by several area hockey pioneers that the sport could “play in Peoria.”
Along with his business partner Anne Griffith,
Saurs has guided the Rivermen over the franchise’s past ten seasons in the ECHL. During that time, the team captured the 1999-2000 ECHL Kelly Cup championship. In October,
Saurs will lead the franchise into a new era of competition in the American Hockey League.
Saurs, now 79, was the sole owner of the Rivermen in the International Hockey League for seven seasons, which included a 1990-91 Turner Cup championship and a still-world-record 18-game winning streak near the outset of that season.
A graduate of Bradley University,
Saurs was head baseball coach and assistant basketball coach at Peoria Central High School for six years (1949-1955). He was also instrumental in helping to establish the first little league baseball program in Peoria and even served as a scout for Major League Baseball’s Pittsburgh Pirates for a time.
Born and raised in Peoria,
Saurs still resides in the city. Besides his ownership interest in the Rivermen,
Saurs also shares ownership of several automobile dealerships, including Velde Ford, Velde Oldsmobile/Cadillac/GMC, and Velde Lincoln-Mercury/Volvo. He has three sons: Mike, Tim, and Scott.
