SPHL champions sign goalkeeper pair and ECHL winger
PEORIA – The Peoria Rivermen signed a goalie duo and a pair of brothers on Thursday to further build their roster to defend the President’s Cup title in the 2024-25 SPHL season.
Peoria signed goalies Ashton Abel, Troy Kobryn and his brother, big right wing Tyler Kobryn, the latter of whom has extensive experience in the Double-A ECHL.
“One of the benefits we can offer goalies in Peoria is a full-time goalie coach,” said Eric Levine, Rivermen assistant coach and former elite SPHL goalie. “At the minor league level, it’s rare that players have access to that. We’re going to be competitive from day one. We want goalies that want to wear the Rivermen jersey and these two guys are motivated.”
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Troy Kobryn, 25, is a 6’0″, 185-pound player who has made multiple appearances in the ECHL. He played three seasons at Merrimack College and then graduated from American International College, where he turned professional with ECHL Norfolk in the spring of the 2022-23 season.
Kobryn played three games with SPHL Fayetteville last season, recording two wins, a 1.97 goals against average and a .942 save percentage. He moved up to the ECHL with Adirondack and Tulsa, then returned to the SPHL for brief stints with Pensacola and Knoxville. The New Jersey native was named 2017 high school hockey player of the year by nj.com and was selected to the All-USA second team by USA Today.
“He’ll start at ECHL camp in Tulsa,” Levine said. “We told him he needs to play 20 to 30 games in Peoria and prove he can be a starting goalie at the SPHL level to get a longer chance in the ECHL. He needs to play.”
“He coaches goalkeepers in New Jersey, and that’s important because then he understands what coaching means and how we can improve him.”
He is not heavy, he is my …
The Rivermen signed another Kobryn on Wednesday night: Tyler, the older brother of goalkeeper Troy Kobryn.
Tyler Kobryn, 27, is a 6’3″, 220-pound right winger from Hillsborough, NJ with plenty of experience at the next level of the ECHL. He will start training camp with ECHL Tulsa this fall.
Kobryn played four seasons for NCAA Div.-III Wesleyan University before turning professional with Class-AA ECHL Tulsa in 2020–21, where he played 33 games and scored three goals as a rookie.
He spent all four of his professional seasons in the ECHL, including stints with Atlanta (twice, 72 games), Kalamazoo, Indy, Reading and Florida. He has played 127 ECHL games, scoring 14 goals and 14 assists.
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“We saw him play against us last season in the SPHL and we know what kind of player he can be,” said Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel. “He brings size and can score. But he has so much experience at the next level in the ECHL that we can count on him to be a leader and a strong presence here.”
He moved to the SPHL last season and played 43 games with Fayetteville, scoring 14 goals with 13 assists and serving as an alternate captain. Kobryn knows the Rivermen’s dominance at Carver Arena – where they went 28-1-3 last season – quite well, having lost 1-0, 5-1 and 3-2 at Peoria with Fayetteville.
Two make a tandem
Ashton Abel, 24, is a 6’0″, 175-pound rookie goalie from Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. He played 13 games in three seasons for Boston University and finished his career in the Canadian college system with 40 games in two seasons at Grant MacEwan University. There, he was 8-9-0 with a 3.63 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage last season.
As a freshman at Boston University in the 2019-20 season, Abel went undefeated in his first five collegiate games (3-0-2), finishing with a 3.15 goals-against average and a .891 save percentage.
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“He was a reserve player at Boston University,” said Levine, who was busy moving to central Illinois this week as he and his wife bought a house here. “He can play, he’s got a pretty good pedigree. He played in the CIS. He’s very laid back. A soft-spoken, level-headed guy who doesn’t show emotion or body language in goal.
“He’s excited to work with us and we’re going to work together every day. He’s hungry. His attitude is phenomenal.”
Dave Eminian is a sports columnist for the Journal Star, covering the Bradley men’s basketball team, the Rivermen and the Chiefs. He writes the “Clevé In The Eve” sports column for pjstar.com. Reach him at 686-3206 or [email protected]. Follow him on X.com at @icetimecleve.
