Wilkie, Neville, and Hagaman Earn 1st and 2nd Team All-SPHL Honors
April 13, 2023 - 01:07 pm
PEORIA, IL – The Southern Professional Hockey League announced today their first and second-team all-SPHL rosters for this season and the Rivermen have three representatives, including defensemen Zach Wilkie and Nick Neville on the First Team All-SPHL and forward Alec Hagaman on the Second Team All-SPHL.
Zach Wilkie made his first-ever appearance on the All-SPHL first team this season fresh after last year’s campaign see him as part of the All-SPHL rookie team. The 2022-23 season was a banner year for Wilkie who finished first in scoring among defensemen with 43 points (13 goals, 30 assists) which is a professional career high. In addition, Wilkie led the entire league in plus/minus with a plus-42 rating.
Sharing the blueline with Wilkie for most of the season, Nick Neville shined in 2022-23 with 41 points (five goals, 36 assists) and lead all defensemen in assists. This year saw Neville make his second appearance on the All-SPHL first-team ballot since 2020. Neville has been on either the first or the second team ballot as a defenseman for four of the past five years.
This year marks Hagaman’s second appearance in the All-SPHL Second Team during his career. Hagaman has been a consistent presence in either the first or second-team All-SPHL for five of the last six seasons. Hagaman concluded his final regular season in Peoria with 61 points (24 goals, 37 assists) which ranked him fifth in the league in scoring. Hagaman reached many career milestones this season including his 400th career SPHL game and scoring his 400th career SPHL point. To date, he is the only player in the league to have eclipsed both of those milestones in a single career.
Peoria will face the Ice Flyers in the first round of the playoffs for the second year in a row. Game One of the best-of-three series will take place in Pensacola on Thursday, April 13 while Game Two will be in Peoria at Carver Arena on Saturday, April 15 at 7:15 pm. If necessary, Game Three will also take place at Carver Arena on Sunday, April 16 at 4:15 pm.
