S70 Calgary Wranglers Team Awards

[animal74 1,809]

 

S70 Calgary Wranglers Team Awards

 

The Calgary Wranglers surprised pundits and fans alike in S70 as they stampeded ahead of the rest of the VHL for a time and when the dust settled, they had lassoed 3^rd place overall with a 41-24-7 record for 89 points. They carried that momentum into the playoffs where they lost the Continental Cup in a heartbreaking Finals series in six games to the Moscow Menace. Those Wranglers were known for their staunch defense led by cagey veterans and an offense just coming into its own with a young forward group that was well-rounded and full of promise. They played hard every night and played for each other. And now, we present the S70 Calgary Wrangler Team Awards as voted by the players.

 

 

Stalwart Stallion Award (Best Defenseman)

Jordan Tonn 

 

Rangy Canadian, Jordan Tonn, made the switch from forward to defense and the move paid off as he arguably had his best season to date. He had a drop-off in goals but set career-highs in assists, points and power-play goals. He led the Wranglers in assists and power-play points and led his fellow blueliners in goals, assists and points. His offensive skills were a boon to a defense core of excellent defenders.

 

Runner-up: Brady Stropko Jr

The career Wrangler may be in the twilight of his career but still led the team in shot blocks.

 

 

Noble Steed Award (Unsung Hero)

RJ Jubis

 

It takes heroic efforts by different individuals every night to reach the heights that the Wranglers did this past season. Some efforts are more noticed than others but Calgary had a plethora of players who stepped up every night as shown by the seven different players that received votes by their teammates. Sophomore winger RJ Jubis may have flown under the radar by the media but not by his fellow Wranglers. He edged out Sigard Gunnar for the award by blasting his rookie numbers and morphing into a two-way force as he led the team in power-play goals and led the forwards in shot blocks and time on the PK and behind only Barabash Jr in shots and hits.

 

Runner-up: Sigard Gunnar

Also becoming a two-way player of note, Gunnar was second on the team in goals, third in shots and a fixture on the penalty-killing unit.

 

 

Raging Bull Award (Most Energetic)

RJ Jubis

 

The Wranglers were a pain to play against as they brought speed, hitting, and tenacity each and every night. Calgary’s hulking do-everything winger, RJ Jubis, seemed to crank it up just a little bit higher than everyone else though. His astounding energy on both ends of the rink were noticed around the league as one opposing coach was earlier heard complaining, “Does that f^&*(*g Jubis never stop?!?” His teammates also noticed as he garnered half the votes for this award. As noted above, he was used in all situations, was an analytics darling and played the second-most minutes of all Calgary forwards.

 

Runner-up: Five players

 

 

Gentle Gelding Award (Most Gentlemanly)

Hiroshi Okada

 

Now, this is a bit of a paradox as Hiroshi Okada edged a couple of rookies for his gentlemanly nature in spite of leading the Wranglers in fights with eight. Although, he was known around the league for bowing to his sparring partners after each fight, win, lose, or draw. He is also known for his easy-going and helpful nature in the locker room.

 

Runners-up: Mikko Lahtinen, Ondrej Ohradka

Ohradka had the fewest penalty minutes on the team while Lahtinen had the fourth-least.

 

 

Crazy Colt Award (Rookie of the Year)

Kris Rice

 

After an amazing 57-goal, 137-point campaign for the VHLM’s Mississauga Hounds, the Calgary Wranglers had high hopes for the native of nearby Red Deer. The deft winger’s selection at 11^th overall in the S69 draft proved to be well-founded as he led all VHL rookie forwards with 36 points which was only three points behind overall rookie scoring leader, Erik Summers. He also led the Wranglers in shooting percentage and was fourth in game-winning goals (4) and fifth in goals (15). He also quickly became entrenched as a likeable teammate and valuable leader in the locker room.

 

Runner-up: Mikko Lahtinen

The skilled Finn finished in the top ten in rookie scoring and enjoyed a coming-out party in the playoffs.

 

 

Thoroughbred Award (Most Valuable Player)

Tyler Barabash Jr

 

Tyler Barabash Jr was Calgary’s main offensive weapon night after night (as he showed by winning the team’s 3-Stars Award) and he put up some career best numbers to lead the Wranglers. His career-highs in goals, shots, penalty minutes, and hits were tops on the team by a wide margin and he also led Calgary in points, plus/minus, tied for game-winners and led the forwards in assists and ice time. How do you spell MVP? TBJ.

 

Runner-up: JB Rift

He kept the team in games when the offense sputtered and stole many more. Mentored young backup, Jacques Lafontaine.

 

 

Wrangler Man of the Year

RJ Jubis

 

The Wrangler Man of the Year award honors a lot of characteristics that the team considers essential to being a Wrangler: being a solid teammate, on-ice excellence and off-ice contributions, dedication to winning, and overall leadership among them.

 

The respect that RJ Jubis and Sigard Gunnar have been given by their teammates and the entire organization is hard to fault. Even though both players are young, they are among the most vocal in the locker room, their improvement on the ice proves their dedication to the team and they have shown leadership constantly by their encouragement of their teammates and willingness to help out and do whatever it takes to lead the Wranglers to the pinnacle. Together they received 70% of the votes with Jubis getting the 4-3 edge.

 

Jubis probably puts more pressure on himself to succeed than any other Calgary player. He is constantly looking to improve and as exemplified by his two other award wins, the Wranglers follow when he leads. He is loved within the community and his character shines through consistently. He also won the Man of the Year award with the VHLM’s Saskatoon Wild two seasons ago.   

 

Runner-up: Sigard Gunnar

A vocal leader and comic genius for the team, his desire for the captaincy is well-known and probably not far off.

 

RJ Jubis and Sigard Gunnar

 

  @Bushito @Devise @Jubis @MexicanCow123 @diamond_ace @Tagger @Beketov @enigmatic @Ricer13 @SlapshotDragon @cody73 @DMaximus @Big Mac

 

1039 words - Claiming 1/2 for March 29th

Edited March 28, 2020 by animal74

[Ricer13 2,796]

Review: I happened to be awake right when this was posted. I have no actual critiques. It is very well written and it is very well laid out. I also know how much time it took you trying to wrangle up everyone’s votes on the Wranglers roster. I know this took some time and dedication and you have presented it in a very professional manner. That is why it’ll be the first 10/10 review I have given. Great work, I am excited to read what you post in the future:

[Jubis 1,348]

I loved when you did this in Saskatoon and still love it now. Thank you for putting this together.

Im overwhelmed by being selected for a few of these. I love being a Wrangler and wouldn't want to play for any other team and couldn't find a better group. I want nothing more than to win a cup with this group. Hopefully we can go deep again this season and give ourselves a good chance again  

[Big Mac 310]

8 hours ago, Jubis said:

I loved when you did this in Saskatoon and still love it now. Thank you for putting this together.

Im overwhelmed by being selected for a few of these. I love being a Wrangler and wouldn't want to play for any other team and couldn't find a better group. I want nothing more than to win a cup with this group. Hopefully we can go deep again this season and give ourselves a good chance again  

You know what I don’t love you stealing all my hardware 

[animal74 1,809]

Claiming 2/2.