Inductees Dozens of professional baseball and hockey players have moved through Peoria on the way to big league status, but none have been part of the local athletic scene like Doug Evans.
For a dozen of his 17 professional hockey seasons Evans has played all or part of a season for the Peoria Rivermen. In all, that adds up to 691 regular season and playoff games for the Rivermen, probably more games played for a local team than anyone else achieved in our sports history.
A native of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, he scored 809 points for the Rivermen in his career, including 279 goals. He holds the franchise records for games played, seasons played and goals scored.
He was the International Hockey League Rookie of the Year on Peoria's Turner Cup title team of the 1984-85 season, a team that has been named to the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame. He is a charter member of the Rivermen Hall of Fame and made numerous All-Star teams in both the IHL and the East Coast Hockey League.
His No. 9 jersey has been retired by the Rivermen.
He played 377 National Hockey League games with Winnipeg, St. Louis and Philadelphia.
| DANA DAVIS Dana Davis was long a popular figure in the Peoria community and the former Bradley Basketball team manager's professional career landed him with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies. Affectionately known as "Double D," Davis steadily advanced up the Grizzlies front office during his 13 years with the organization and was Vice President of Basketball Operations and Team Programs at the time of his death in October at the age of 56. |  |