The Airdrie Xtreme Bantam AAA team held its annual awards banquet at the Ron Ebbesen Arena April 10, recognizing eight deserving players.
“We look at the entire season, and look at the contribution each player has given this year,” said head coach Terry Koegh. “There were some tough decisions. There were a lot of conversations around who should and who is eligible. There weren’t any outright winners. That goes for how our team was this year.”
The top scorer award for the season went to centreman Ryan Barrow with 11 goals in 33 games, while top forward went to Chad Harrison.
The most improved player award was shared by Andrew Fyten and Leif Undseth, while the other award that was shared was the Code of Conduct award given to Marshall Burr and netminder Ryan Ternes. Centreman Troy Van Tetering took home the Heart and Hustle award, and the Warrior award went to Kris LeClair.
The big winner on the evening was Tristan Thompson who took home both the top defenceman award, and the Vic Weibe Most Valuable Player Award.
Thompson recorded a total of 32 games played, with 8 goals and eight assists to his credit.
“He worked hard all year long, he was a leader when we needed him the most,” said Koegh. “We were fighting a lot of injuries in the playoffs and Tristan stepped up and did his best to fill some pretty big shoes.”
While the team didn’t make it to Westerns after being eliminated by the Calgary Bisons in the semi-finals, Thompson says he was happy to play on the team.
“We didn’t get to the finals, it was a good run though,” Thompson said. “We all played good, we had a good committed team and that’s all that mattered.”
“It was an honour (getting the MVP),” said Thompson. “I didn’t know who was going to get it, there were a lot of guys that deserved to get the MVP.”
