AURORA – Nothing is better than having a strong connection with teammates.
 
For the Poudre School District hockey team, nothing exemplifies that better than the connection shared by center Jorgan Bliss and left wing London Salmela.
 
“I moved here from Texas … and I’ve been with this guy ever since,” Salmela said of Bliss. “I think he was the first guy I met.”
 
Playing for the top-ranked team in CHSAA’s 5A rankings, Bliss ranks seventh in the state in points with 27 (11 goals, 16 assists), while Salmela is eighth with 26 (12 goals, 14 assists). Throw in right wing Hayden Miller (nine goals, six assists) and the stars have a lethal top line.
 
“We have a group of guys who have been playing together for a long time,” Bliss said. “I’ve been playing with the same two linemates (Salmela and Miller) since eighth grade. So there’s chemistry with them and you can keep building on it as you’re getting better.”
 
The Poudre School District team has a strong connection up and down the roster despite drawing its players from throughout the district as well as the surrounding communities.
 
“We’re an arm’s length past the youth hockey program (Northern Colorado Youth Hockey),” coach Riley Nelson said. “A lot of our kids come through that program. For the most part, they grow up playing hockey together. The group I have right now, they’ve been successful since they were in U10. The familiarity of players moving up level to level has been beneficial for us.
 
“We’ve always had a strong JV team. They continue to grow together. We do graduate a lot of seniors every year, but we seem to have another group of kids that is ready to jump in and fill those roles.”
 
The Stars, somewhat rebranded as Poudre School District three seasons ago after previously competing as Fort Collins, have been on a roll since the switch, compiling an overall record of 40-11-5. Knocked off by the No. 12 seed after earning the No. 5 seed in 2023-24, the top-seeded Stars lost 7-4 to Valor Christian in last year’s state championship game and they are off to a 13-1-1 start this season.
 
“Our program took a huge step last year,” Salmela said. “The year before it didn’t go so well in the playoffs. But our team last year definitely grew as the season went on. It didn’t turn out well at the end, but I think it was a really fun experience getting all the way to the state championship.”
 
Salmela, Bliss & Co. have earned some measure of redemption along the way this season, winning a regular-season rematch with Valor Christian 9-3 (it was a 2-1 game after two periods and was still close until multiple empty-net goals in the closing minutes) and avenging their only loss (3-0 to then-No. 5 Denver East on Jan. 24) with a 6-5 victory over the Angels a week later.
 
“It was a big learning moment,” Bliss said of the loss to East. “Obviously you don’t want to lose, but if you just glide through everything easily and have success, you can get too cocky, and then you get into the playoffs thinking you’re everything.”
 
Postseason play for both classes in hockey is set to start Feb. 19, with quarterfinals to follow Feb. 24. The semifinals for both classes will be played Feb. 28 at Colorado College’s Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs, and the championship games are March 2 at the University of Denver’s Magness Arena.
 
The march to Magness figures to be intense. In 5A, PSD, No. 2 Valor Christian and No. 3 Cherry Creek are a combined 37-6-3. In 4A, No. 1 Battle Mountain, No. 2 Colorado Academy and No. 3 Pine Creek are a combined 39-4-3.
 
The playoffs could be yet another chance for PSD’s stars to shine.
 
“They’re tremendous competitors,” Nelson said of Salmela and Bliss. “That’s the biggest thing that this group has had. You never have to overly motivate them. Playing together, playing for each other, and playing to win is what drives them.
 
“Jorgan sees the ice extremely well. He has great vision and is able to use the ice and pockets of ice. He sees holes where his linemates can go and they feed off one another. London is more the one-on-one type of player. He can beat somebody and open up space for somebody else. He’s very strong around the net, very good with his hands, tipping pucks, knocking down pucks, stripping pucks.”
 
Speaking of tipping pucks, it was Salmela’s overtime tip-in last season in the semifinals against Cherry Creek that sent Poudre School District to the final.
 
Salmela, a senior from Windsor, has career totals of 19 goals and 17 assists. He had a hat trick this season in the win over Valor Christian, and has had three four-point games.
 
“I’m good at finding my teammates with passes and finding holes in defenses,” Salmela said. “I like to calm things down and make the right plays and score some goals here and there.”
 
Bliss, a junior from Loveland, has produced 15 goals and 24 assists over the last two seasons and had a six-point night (two goals, four assists) against Chaparral as well as a five-point game (one goal, four assists) in the win over Cherry Creek earlier this season.
 
“I think I’m someone who excels at scanning the ice and passing the puck to my teammates,” Bliss said. “I think I’m someone who’s also very hard-working, and I will do whatever it takes to win.”
 
Salmela, who plans to pursue architectural engineering, was recently accepted to attend the University of Texas. He isn’t planning to play intercollegiate hockey, though he’s open to playing at the club level in college.
 
Bliss has another year to make a decision on his educational and athletic pursuits.
 
“I think there’s every opportunity for them to (play college hockey) if that’s where their heart is,” Nelson said. “I think once you get to a certain level, all those things have to align. You’re not going to just survive on your abilities, you have to have the drive and the passion to want to play. But I think both of these kids have the opportunity to do whatever they want in life.”