When the Lewis-Palmer hockey team skates onto the ice for the first time this season, the players will have an addition to their jerseys, a patch commemorating alumnus Stevie Fillo.

Fillo, on his drive home from hockey practice for the University of Alabama club team, fell asleep and rolled his pickup truck off the highway. Stevie was airlifted to a regional hospital, while his brother Joey was taken by ambulance. Joey suffered a collapsed lung and scrapes and bruises. Stevie’s injuries were too much. He was pronounced dead the following day, Aug. 30.

The Fillo family had a memorial service in Monument a week later. Somehow, patches commemorating Stevie had been sewn on every Rangers jersey.

“I don’t know how it happened, but they were on by then,” said Steve Fillo, Stevie’s dad and the Rangers hockey coach.

An estimated 700 people attended the service, including every former Rangers hockey player who lives in the state, Steve said. Goalie Brent Schwarz’s mom, Tamara, sewed the patches. Steve Fillo still has no idea who came up with the patch idea.

Rink therapy

At a recent practice Steve blew his whistle. Angered by the effort of his skaters during a drill, he made them do laps. After five, they bend over in exhaustion or kneeled. He put them through the drill again.

The coach showed only his coaching emotions.

“He’s really good at hiding it,” captain Brandon Roseboro said. “We’re getting through it.”

Justin Brame, a junior forward, grew up two doors down from the Fillos and played street hockey with Stevie.

“We got together as a team and had a candlelight service for him,” Brame said. “We tried to stick together as much as we could to handle it, but it was still really tough.”

For Steve, spending extra time around the rink is better than extra time off.

“Everybody fights grief differently,” Steve said. “My way to fight it is to keep busy. To get back involved on the ice … I’m not only the head coach, I’m the equipment manager, I’m the sports information director. Doing all of those things, it’s therapy I guess. If I’m busy, I’m not thinking about it.”

Outpouring of support

The Alabama club team sent a game jersey Stevie wore to his parents. Steve had it framed. The other jersey, Alabama kept. According to Steve, the Crimson Tide is planning on carrying Stevie’s jersey with them and hanging it behind the bench at all games. The team also has patches and helmet stickers. They sent helmet stickers to the Rangers.

An annual youth hockey tournament at the Colorado Sports Center, L-P’s home rink, will change its tournament name to honor Stevie. The center also has raised a banner in his honor.

A donation to help local kids who can’t afford to play has been made.

“It was amazing,” Steve said.

“Sometimes you take for granted what you have. And the way the community really rallied behind us has been something special.”

Something to play for

Stevie’s senior year, Chris Fisher was a sophomore. This year, Fisher is a captain. He and several teammates plan on sharing with the younger players what Stevie meant to the program.

“Mainly tell them step it up in practice and in games, because now we’re not just playing for high school,” Fisher said. “We’re not just playing for the team, but we’re playing for one of our good friends and a former teammate.”When they pull on their jerseys for the first time Dec. 5, some of the players will really notice it.

“It’s going to be extremely emotional,” Schwarz said. “There’s more to a win this year.”

For Roseboro, there might be added emotion.

“He was my leader,” Roseboro said. “I always looked up to him.”

Keeping busy and coaching hockey is Steve Fillo’s way of grieving for his son, Stevie, who died Aug. 30 in a car accident. Photo by CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE