Photos: Alaska bids farewell to the Aces

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Mackenze Stewart , of the Alaska Aces, pushes his hockey stick over the glass to a young fan after the 3-2 loss to Idaho Steelheads at the Sullivan Arena on Saturday, April 8, 2017. This is the last Alaska Aces game as the franchise is folding. (Bob Hallinen / Alaska Dispatch News)

It was sweet and sorrowful, a celebration tinged with sadness, at once a slice of hockey heaven and a sliver of hockey hell, and then the Alaska Aces were no more.

This was deep into Saturday night, postgame inside Sullivan Arena, where a standing-room-only crowd of 6,273 remained to make the long goodbye last a little longer.

This was after the Idaho Steelheads gathered on the rink near the exit to the visiting locker room immediately after the final horn and reminded us that class always tells. They tapped their sticks on the ice, a show of respect for a rival whose history with them stretches back two decades.

This was after the Aces gathered at center ice, raised their twigs in a stick salute to their fans and said their so-longs by waving to the crowd as a standing ovation poured over them. Captain Garet Hunt slipped his stick over the plexiglass to a fan. Coach Rob Murray walked across the ice toward an exit gate, left hand in his front pocket, glanced up at the crowd, stopped before he left the ice and took a look around. Center Tim Coffman, the longest current-tenured Ace, propped his chin the butt end of his stick, then held his stick aloft for one more salute and headed to the dressing room. A fan pressed a white sign against the glass: "THANK YOU, ACES."

And then they were gone.

READ MORE: Both sweet and sorrowful — the end of the Alaska Aces