The stands at Howelsen Ice Arena filled up Friday night, Feb. 3, for the Steamboat Springs hockey senior night celebration against Glenwood Springs. 

It was an emotional night for the 14 seniors who have spent over a decade playing on the ice together and are down to their final six regular season games before playoffs.

Entering Friday night’s contest, Glenwood Springs was at the top of the 4A standings, with Steamboat in fifth. The Sailors were coming off a loss to Glenwood on Wednesday, Feb. 1, and seeking revenge. 

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Senior Landon Smith got the scoring going for the Sailors, finding the back of the net twice in the first period and followed up with a third goal in the second. 

For Smith, it meant the world to get a hat trick on senior night and help his team grow a sizable lead en route to a 5-2 Sailor victory. 

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“I knew I had a lot of people here supporting me,” Smith said. “That first goal, I just banged it in and then it just kept rolling from there and that was pretty much the game.”

The seniors have accomplished a lot over the years including a run to the state semifinals last season. Smith says a lot of that success comes from the years of playing together and growing together as teammates and friends. 

Senior captain Andrew Kempers thought putting the top-seeded Demons down on Friday night was huge looking ahead at the remainder of the season. 

He scored the team’s fourth goal of the game and hopes to use the momentum to finish the season strong and get ready for the playoffs. 

“We’ve been playing for 12 years together,” Kempers said. “It’s just grown and grown since the start and now it’s clicking. I think we’re ready.”

With the victory, Steamboat sits at 8-4-1 on the year with a 4-1 league record. The team is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 4, at Battle Mountain before inviting them to Steamboat on Monday, Feb. 6. 

Head coach Brian Ripley says it has been a pleasure to work with this incredible group of young men, but the job is not finished yet. He has his sights set on the playoffs and hopes to finish strong with this senior class. 

“It kind of gets to that point where reality sets in and you go, ‘I’m a senior and I’m not going to get to do this much longer,’” Ripley said. “I think they’re motivated, there’s some good leaders but we set things up where we have two captains that wear a ‘C’ and I told the rest they are all assistant captains. They all are capable to lead the way.”

Steamboat Springs 5, Glenwood Springs 2
SS 2 1 2
GS 0 0 2

To reach Tom Skulski, call 970-871-4240, email tskulski@SteamboatPilot.com.