Veteran right wing Mike Gelatt has signed on to play a fourth season with the SPHL's Peoria Rivermen. He's one of the league's top forwards.
PEORIA — The Peoria Rivermen have reached agreement with one of the top forwards in the SPHL for the 2025-26 season.
Veteran right wing Mike Gelatt will return for a fourth season with Peoria, a top-line scoring threat with size and physical presence.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Gelatt will be part of the Rivermen leadership core, and has a history of stepping up to deliver in the clutch during big games and postseason play. He notched two goals and added four assists in Peoria's seven-game run to the SPHL President's Cup championship in 2023-24.
In parts of three seasons with the Rivermen, he has 23 goals and 33 assists in just 71 regular-season games, with five game-winners and a plus-35 rating.
Gelatt finished the regular-season last year on a 10-game points streak. The Rivermen are 18-3-5 in regular-season and playoff games when Gelatt scores a goal. That includes a 6-0-2 mark last season.
"Mike Gelatt is a next-level talent who is established among the top forwards in the SPHL," Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel said. "He has grown each season as a player and a leader, helped us win a championship, and he understands and embraces our approach to playing the game and the organization's culture.
"It's a key moment for us to get him on our roster."
Gelatt, who will turn 28 at the end of August, turned pro with the Rivermen from the college ranks (Skidmore College, Wisconsin-River Falls) in the spring of 2022-23.
The Middletown, New Jersey, native has played 87 career games in the SPHL, all with Peoria, and produced 26 goals with 39 assists and plus-35 rating.
The Rivermen teams he's played for have combined over three regular-seasons for a 116-38-15 record, two Coffey Trophy wins as the regular-season points champion, and piled up a stunning home-ice record at 65-11-8.
Gelatt grew up in a hockey family. His older brother, Tim Gelatt, was a defenseman for four seasons at Wisconsin-River Falls. His younger brother, left wing J.R. Gelatt, played four seasons at Holy Cross and will start his first pro season with ECHL Utah.
The Rivermen open the 58-game 2025-26 SPHL season on the road at Quad City on Oct. 18. They return to Carver Arena for a home opener weekend pair of games against Fayetteville on Oct. 24-25.
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 hockey: SPHL contender brings back veteran top forward for 2025-26
Category: Hockey
