PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel is looking at his son as just another player.
Although that may be hard to do these next two weeks.
“I’m a little old school. When it comes to the rink, I’m not his dad anymore, I’m coach,” said Jean-Guy Trudel as his team opened training camp this week. “I have told my players that for years. I look at who is making mistakes, who is playing well.”
Tristan Trudel, 20, is the youngest player in the Peoria Rivermen training camp as he tries to make the roster of the SPHL team. If he does, he’ll be the first player in league history to play for his father.
“Tristan is Tristan, I love him to death. But right now he is a player trying to make a team,” said Jean-Guy Trudel. “He has to keep pushing but right now I’m really happy with him. He looks really good.”
If the younger Trudel makes the opening night roster next week, he would be the fourth son of a former Rivermen player to play for Peoria. Jean-Guy Trudel was a star for the team in the late 1990’s.
“It’s pretty surreal, you know how it is, father-son stuff,” Tristan Trudel said. “But to me, when I’m on the ice, I think of him as my coach. At home he is dad. There’s a big learning curve. The guys have been really good to me. Teaching me a lot of things.”
The Rivermen open the season Oct. 21 at Quad Cities.
