In the corner of the Rivermen locker room, you will find the stall of Alec Baer. It has been his spot for the last five years. In just those five years, he has witnessed a great deal. He’s been named an SPHL MVP. He’s won two Presidents’ Cup championships, and he’s been named captain of one of the most successful franchises in minor professional hockey, taking the reins from a man who is a local legend.

But if you had told all of this to a younger Alec Baer, that he would have seen and done all of these things with the Rivermen, or that he would still even be in Peoria by the time 2025 draws to a close, he probably would’ve looked at you silly.

“My first two years here, I was taking a lot of call-ups and stuff, so it didn’t really feel like I was a part of the team,” Baer said.

Alec Baer first came to the Rivermen in the midst of the 2019-20 season after two years with several ECHL franchises. Baer made no mystery about his drive and desire to make it back to affiliated hockey as soon as he could. After a long and successful career in the WHL junior hockey and modest success in the ECHL, Baer's mind was focused on returning up the ranks. It was an admirable goal, and one that was supported by head coach Jean-Guy Trudel. But that aspiration had to be balanced with a commitment to excellence while in Peoria.

“He [Coach Trudel] was a little bit more old school at the time,” Baer explained. “His thing is ‘when you’re here be 100 percent in, when you get called up, be 100 percent in there’. I just wanted to do my thing here [in Peoria] and get called up as soon as possible.”

That was the mentality that Baer had in the 19-20 season, and it worked. He earned a call-up to the Newfoundland Growlers, netting a goal in seven games, before coming back to a Rivermen squad in the midst of a potential first-place finish and a run at the President’s Cup.

Then everything changed. COVID-19, the Pandemic, a shortened season, and then the following idle year for the Rivermen. Like many of his teammates, Baer spent the 2020-21 season on another team.

“I went into Birmingham, first game broke my leg, had a concussion as well. So I think I played a total of maybe 20 games or so, and it was just a really frustrating season.” 

Baer managed just eight points (2 goals, 6 assists) in 24 games for the Bulls. For someone who had been a constant offensive contributor in Canadian Major Juniors, that season in Birmingham felt like a low point. Baer was out of the ECHL, fighting injuries and hardly contributing on the ice. But the following season brought new opportunities with the Rivermen, if he wanted them, and it was Alec Hagaman who made the biggest pitch for Baer to return.

“I remember talking with Hags [Alec Hagaman] over the summer, and he was as excited as ever to come back, and he told me, ‘Hey, let’s get going here and take over and win a championship,’ so that’s what we did from the start.”

In many ways, the 2021-22 season was career-altering for Baer. He returned to the Rivermen and committed to being with the team for the duration of the season. Suddenly, he was treated not as a player who was going to jump at an ECHL opportunity the first chance he got, but as an assistant captain who could take the added pressure and expectations of a premier forward. Practices were hard, Trudel was more demanding, but no matter the days, good or bad, Baer was always smiling. The teammates around him made all the difference.

“All I remember was just fun. Every day was fun, whether Guy was in a good mood, bad mood, or I was getting yelled at, I just smiled so much that year,” Baer said. “It was such a tight-knit group, even though we added guys late, it felt like they were there for the whole year.”

With that joy and the commitment, Baer thrived. He put up 80 points (26 goals, 54 assists) and was named the Most Valuable Player in the SPHL in 2022. It certainly helped that he played on a line with two veteran Peoria natives in Hagaman and Mitch McPherson. Players with whom he made a rapport throughout the course of the year, and by the time the playoffs came, were a force to be reckoned with.

“I like to think that’s one of the best SPHL lines ever, myself with Hags and Mitch McPherson. We had everything there, I had the puck, Mitch was in front [of the net], and Hags was just kinda rover, he did it all,” Baer said.

That line led the Rivermen to the President’s Cup Finals and their first championship since 2000. It was an overtime victory in Roanoke, Game Four, just 66 seconds into the extra session. By Baer’s own admission, he “kinda blacked out” when the historic goal was scored by teammate and friend JM Piotrowski. All he really remembers from that moment is rushing on the ice and throwing his equipment in every direction. That and hugging anyone he could find, chief among them was Hagaman.

Baer and Hagaman share a bond that is hard to describe to anyone who hasn’t been in a locker room. It’s the type of bond shared by two men who have been through the trials and tribulations of numerous hockey seasons. The late-night bus rides, the early morning workouts, and the habitual pre-game lunch at Chipotle. But it was during the 2022 season, and in the years that followed, that Hagaman helped Baer find his own voice and his own style of leadership.

“We have the same values, but we come across as very different,” Baer explained. “I think the thing that he showed me was that we were very different practice players, but when it comes down to game time, I have a voice, and I use it, but I think I use my actions more in a game [to lead]”.

While Hagaman might get a big hit or fight someone to pull other people into the fight, Baer found his leadership style focused on his offense. A big goal or a big play can change momentum in a game, and Baer found that he could utilize his skills to lead the way for his teammates to follow. Baer and Hagaman grew closer as teammates and friends, Baer learning everything he could from the wily veteran. Another championship came in 2024, and with it, the storybook ending to a historic career for Peoria’s Captain.

It didn’t take long for the mantle of leadership to fall on Baer’s shoulders. Just 27 years old in 2024, Baer was named captain of the Peoria Rivermen following Hagaman’s retirement. For a player like Baer, who had always been the type to focus on his game and have the puck on his stick, the switch in mentality that was required for leadership was the most daunting challenge.

“I think last year [2024-25] I struggled a little bit trying to be myself on the ice with how I play and leading myself as a captain. As a captain, you have more responsibilities; you have to be more ‘team-first’ oriented as well.”

Baer boasted 67 points (23 goals, 44 assists), the second-most points he put up in his entire playing career. Still, the weight of leadership was large. Thankfully, Baer had help from his coaches and his teammates, who understood what kind of shoes Baer was trying to fill. Perhaps none more so than Hagaman himself.

“He checks on me as a friend, checks on me as a captain, he knows kinda what that [responsibility] holds, so I think he really wants to make sure I’m doing ok handling the pressure.”

Though the Rivermen fell short of a repeat as President’s Cup champions last season, it was a year of growth for Baer, learning more of what it takes to be a captain.

“I think just kinda knowing it falls on my shoulders now instead of having Hags to lean on was a very big part of that last year.”

Now this season, Baer enters his second season with the “C” on his chest. Looking back at last year, he admits he probably should’ve talked more and should’ve used his voice more to rally the team in addition to his play on the ice. This year, Baer has the confidence and the experience to know what kind of tools he has at his disposal, and he knows he’s better for it.

“I think just having a year under my belt helps. I think my relationship with Guy has helped tremendously. Obviously, we lost a couple of assistants, but it's just more pressure on me, more pressure on my assistants to step up,” Baer said.  “Compared to then, now I just go out there, and I just want to have fun. When I have fun, I play my best. I feel like I’m more comfortable being the captain now, so now that leadership just comes a bit more naturally off the ice.”

It’s an incredible point of growth from a player who, not seven years ago, only looked at Peoria as a way to get back in the ECHL. Now he is the committed captain of this historical franchise. The journey is not lost on Baer.

“Things have changed a lot from getting here and thinking that I’m going to be in and out to now being a second-year captain, being here full time. I think Peoria slowly grows on you that much; it starts in the locker room with your team and slowly grows out to the community. Whether it be helping Guy coach in the summers, just meeting so many people and fans, and being more in the community, you get a little involved, and now it feels like a second home for me.”

Looking back, the Rivermen captain offered this advice to his younger self, and perhaps to others who might have been in his position, chasing a dream and not knowing where the next step might be.

“Be more present, wherever you are, you are supposed to be there for a reason. Whenever the next opportunity comes, it’s coming for a reason.”

The man who was once always looking to the horizon, who was always chasing call-ups, is now chasing championships with a "C" on his chest and a smile on his face.