AURORA | Capsule preview of the 2026 Class 5A state ice hockey state championship game between Cherry Creek and Poudre School District scheduled to be played on March 2, 2026, at Magness Arena:
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2026 CLASS 5A STATE ICE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
NO. 3 CHERRY CREEK (17-3-1) vs. NO. 1 POUDRE SCHOOL DISTRICT (18-2-1)
March 2, 7:30 p.m. at Magness Arena
BREAKDOWN: Cherry Creek and Poudre School District — both programs that incorporate players from multiple schools within their districts — meet in the postseason for the second consecutive season, with the group from Fort Collins prevailing 4-3 in double overtimes in the 2025 Frozen Four. …Historically, Cherry Creek — which had its program go on a two-decade hiatus before it returned for the 2012-13 season — sits in a tie for third place all-time in state history with four. The Bruins have as many as Valor Christian, while Regis Jesuit is second with seven and Cheyenne Mountain the all-time leader with 16 state titles. Cherry Creek’s last state championship victory came in 2015. …The Poudre School District (which has also played under the Fort Collins banner in years past) is in search of its first state championship, though it made it to the finals in 2020, 2021 and 2025, where it lost to Valor Christian every time. …Cherry Creek and Poudre School District played each other twice this season — both times before winter break — and PSD won 7-1 on Dec. 5, 2025, before the teams tied 1-1 on Dec. 20.
CHERRY CREEK: A program that consists of players mainly from Cherry Creek in addition to others from Cherokee Trail, Eaglecrest and Smoky Hill comes into the championship game on a six-game winning streak, which includes a 3-0 quarterfinal win over No. 6 Mountain Vista at South Suburban Sports Complex and a 3-1 win over No. 2 Valor Christian at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs. The semifinal victory prevented Valor Christian from making what would have been a seventh straight trip to the state championship game. In two postseason contests for coach Jeff Mielnicki’s team, junior forward Ari Gelfand has accounted for half of the Bruins’ goals and he also has an assist for four points, while senior forward Sean Badasyan has three points via two assists and a goal, while senior defender Matthew Lopez and senior forward Davis Ritter also have two points apiece. For the season, Gelfand has racked up a team-high 21 goals, while junior Liam Corcoran is next with 13 and Ritter is on the doorstep of double figures with nine. Lopez and Badasyan share the team leads for the Bruins with 16 assists, followed by Gelfand and Ritter with 15 apiece. Senior Mason Banks has played all 110 postseason minutes in the goal for Cherry Creek and has ceded just a single goal, while he has stopped 44 shots.
POUDRE SCHOOL DISTRICT: A conglomerate of multiple Fort Collins area schools (Colorado Early College, Fort Collins, Fossil Ridge, Loveland, Rocky Mountain, Severance, Timnath and Windsor) lost its regular season finale to Regis Jesuit, but coach Riley Nelson’s senior-heavy group rebounded once the postseason arrived with 3-1 quarterfinal victory over Chaparral at South Suburban Sports Complex followed by a 3-1 defeat of Regis Jesuit in the semifinals at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs. In two postseason contests, six different players have scored goals and nine have registered at least one point. The only player with multiple points thus far is senior forward London Salmela, who has a goal and an assist. For the season, Salmela has a team high 19 goals, while junior Jorgan Bliss (15) and senior Cavyn Nelson (11) also have double digit scores and eight other players have four or more. Bliss leads the team in assists with 24 (which gives him 39 points), followed by Salmela with 20 (39 points) and senior defender Adam Aldridge with 19 (25 points). Three different players made multiple starts in the net during the regular season for Poudre School District, but senior Tucker Lourance has been in the nets for both postseason contests. He has allowed just two goals and made 23 saves.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports