PEORIA,ILL - The vocabulary used to describe professional hockey typically includes words like fast, exciting and intense. The Peoria Rivermen are adding another word to that list - educational.

The second annual Field Trip Faceoff will take place in Peoria on January 24 as the Rivermen take on the Milwaukee Admirals. The puck drops for this Tuesday game at 10AM. That's right, hockey at 10 in the morning!

Instead of the usual mix of hockey fans, the stands will be filled, primarily, with Kindergarten through Eighth Grade students.

According to Peoria Rivermen Marketing Manager Nicholas Hand, they will be coming by the busload.

Photo courtesy of Peoria Rivermen

"We had over 3,000 kids in the building last year. This year we are expecting over 5,000," Hand said.

"It is a lot of fun but it is also educational," Hand continued. "Each student gets a workbook as they come in the door. We use the intermissions and stoppages to complete various sections of the workbook."

The workbook touches on just about every grade school subject.

"There are math problems that deal with player stats, we touch on social studies, looking at the states and Canadian provinces the players come from. We talk about Canada's geography. We do some physical education with our mascot, Barry, leading stretching exercises. We even look at the physics of resurfacing the ice and how skates work. Students even get to exercise their Language Arts skills writing sentences at appropriate times dealing with play on the ice."

While it seemed the kids loved the day out of class, how did the teachers feel?

"The teachers who attended last year gave us great marks," Hand told Pro Hockey News. "They really enjoyed the interactive workbook and found that the kids had a great time...they thought it was great how we used the sport of hockey to incorporate subjects that they are teaching in class."

The tickets are free for the students and educators, provided by local sponsors, so there is no cost to the school district. Home school students are also welcome and need only to call Jim Fox (309-680-3812) to arrange for their free tickets.

Contact Shuan.Bill@prohockeynews.com