While there was no awards banquette to cap off the 2019/2020 season, the Steinbach Pistons still announced the respective award winners.

Paul Dyck spoke about each award winner.

The Academic Excellence - Lucas Fry

"Apply named the professor in our room. He's an extremely intelligent young man, if you saw his high school transcripts, everyone would be envious of them. We have some smart guys in our room, but Lucas is the top of that group."

Rookie Of The Year - Carter Loney

"Carter had a heck of a year, obviously. Anyone that had the opportunity to watch him this year saw what an exciting player he is. The speed, the energy and he just does everything. He's one of our smaller players but he had the crunch of the game on a number of occasions. He has some bite, he can score and make plays. For a 17-year-old in our league, it can be difficult to make the transition let alone excel in the matter that he did. His fight at the MJHL Showcase was a defining moment. Word spread around the league that the could take care of himself. He wasn't going to be pushed around. I think that went a long way to his season. He's respected around the league, he plays the game for keeps. He's very competitive and it was a pleasure coaching him this year."

Top Scorer - Kyle Bettens

"Kyle is another very talented player. I think I spoke about it near the end of the season, just how much our offence goes through Kyle. He draws a lot of attention, he's a player teams key on but he still just finds guys. He draws defence out of position and creates opportunities for other. He's very unselfish but with that being said, he has one of the best shots on our team. We've encouraged him to use the shot more, it's such a threat. If you see him shoot the puck in practice... I've often made the comment that if I had a shot like that and played right now, I'd be the most selfish player on the ice, really encouraging to use that deadly weapon."

Most Improved Player - Tucker Hodgson

"It was really, really fun to watch his progression. When Tucker came in, taking the step from US high school, didn't play his senior year there he came and joined us here. I knew how competitive he was and I knew how hard he works in practice and we knew he'd put the time in. Typically with players like that, when they have that willingness, you're going to see progress and see it on a consistent basis. He just showed up every day and put in the time. First to request video after games, watching his shifts from the night before. He had such an eagerness to learn. It was a lot of fun, there's a lot more there, there's a bright future for Tucker. He's such a competitive kid, I just love how hard he plays. We just had our exit meeting with him and we were saying if a person saw him play once a month, the progression would be very, very evident."

3 Stars Award - Matt Lenz

"He's such a big part of our team, he had such an exceptional year. Not surprised he'd win that award. It's a little feather in the players cap to be one of the stars. With the fans, it's a really good moment and a really great memory for the players."

True Grit Award - Caydin Cleland

"It's one of those awards, to me, it's a badge of honor. Those are the guys that sometimes don't get recognized for their offensive contributions. Cleo brings a lot of grit to the table. He's just such a competitive kid. He's physical, blocks shots, had a team first attitude. He's inspiring. He's one of those players that gets our team going if we're a little bit flat. He brings a little bit of fire to the ice each and every night."

Fan Favorite Award - Tanner Mole

"I think that's two in a row for Tanner, eh? That speaks loudly to the kind of person he is and how he connects with our community and the youth. And people in general, he's just a great young guy. Wasn't surprised how that vote turned out. He's a guy that we're going to miss. Really contributed to the culture here, took his responsibilities as a Steinbach Piston very, very seriously but on and off the ice. Such a great example for our players on and off the ice."

Community Service and Leadership Award - Tanner Mole

"To me, the fan favorite and the community leadership are tied together. A number of years ago, we were encouraging our players to get involved in the community and were asking them to really immerse themselves. Our guys have been mentors to younger people in the community, going out to practices, reading programs in the schools. There's a number of different initiatives our guys have been in."

Playoff MVP - Christian Riemer

"It was impressive. We had a number of guys that had a tremendous playoffs in only a four game series but I thought with Christian, he was just tremendous. A horse on the back end. Our penalty kill was 23 for 23 and he played such a big part in that, he played more minutes then he ever did before. Then he got into the offence with 6 points in 4 games including that massive overtime winner. We give out an award in our locker room every night, it's a hard hat, to a player that had an impact and Riems could have won it all four nights in that series. Really fun to see him take that next step, to lead and watch that confidence grow. We really saw it all come together in March.

Top Defencemen - Declan Graham

"His consistency was really remarkable. It starts with his preparation. He brings a workman like mindset every time he comes to the rink. He's very intentional with his practice habits. We saw a Declan Graham that every night we knew what we were going to get. That's what you hope to see from your captain so for him to win that award, he's quite an achievement. We had a good back end this year but he's very deserving of it and he's a guy we're going to miss next year for sure."

Steinbach Pistons Team MVP - Matt Lenz

"I think everybody viewed him as our most valuable player. Just there every night. An off night was him letting in three and that didn't happen very often. Another player that grew. It's so rewarding to see his progression in the past two years. It started last year when Matt Radomsky went to team Canada West and Lenzy had a chance to start eight straight games I believe, and he really took the ball and ran with it. Every time Lenzy was in from that point forward, he had the confidence of the room. He brought that this season. He had a Division 1 opportunity last year but he wanted to come back, he wanted to bet on himself and he thought there might be a better situation for himself. He made a comment that he hadn't played in important games yet. He came in here with a mission to bring his game to the next level and lead our team. Ultimately, he did get a great Division 1 scholarship for him.

Looking over all the award winners and all the players that could have won awards this year, Dyck is encouraged with all that has happened and all that is still yet to come. "You always like to see it spread out. If all your strength is with your 20-year-old, you'll have some holes to fill and we certainly will, we're losing some key players. We do feel we're in a healthy position with some of the 17,18 and 19 year olds that at times drove the team this year. We're in a good spot. You always try to create balance and we're excited for what's ahead with some of our guys. We had some guys who played key roles this year and are ready to take on more, put the team on their back. We had very encouraging exit meetings and the guys are excited for next year. As a staff, we're very encouraged with what's coming back.

Hear all that Coach Paul Dyck had to say on the Steinbach Online podcast.

{podcast id=74}