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Operation Ivy · 07-15-2024, 10:22 PM

Season 77 Texas Renegades Team Awards

Another regular season has come and gone in the SHL. We saw quite a few surprises in the standings this season, which led to some exciting regular season hockey but most likely even more exciting playoff hockey. The Texas Renegades continued their stretch of strong regular season finishes in recent seasons, as they finished the Season 77 regular season with a record of 44-18-4, good for 92 points. This finish had the Renegades at third in the SHL, and first atop the Central Division. Now, the Texas squad finds themselves in the Western Conference semi-finals against a familiar foe in the San Francisco Pride. As the team prepares for what is bound to be a battle, we are going to take some time today to honor the individual accomplishments of many impressive Renegades. Without further ado, let us get to the Texas Renegades Season 77 Team Awards!

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The Texas Renegades "Sharpshooter" Award

(most goals this season)

In Texas, a sharpshooter is a name given to one who is quick with their pistols or highly skilled in shooting their weapon! We of course have a player who is highly skilled at shooting pucks with their stick and thus they are the Texas Renegades “Sharpshooter”.

Your Texas Renegade "Sharpshooter" this season is a tie between:

Marton Diehm (@FaraDian) & Lasse Zeigler (@jaypc8237)

What a finish we had this season for the Sharpshooter award! Both Marton Diehm and Lasse Zeigler finished tied for the team lead in goals this season with an impressive 39 goals scored each. These two offensive wingers battled it out all season long and it is only right that the goals race in Texas ended this way. Zeigler found a lot of success on the powerplay this season, with 13 goals scored on the man advantage. Diehm tended to find the net at any point, finishing with 9 powerplay goals and 4 shorthanded goals to go along with his even strength tallies. Usually, the trophy given out for this award in Texas is a silver revolver, but it looks like this year we will be giving out the dual wielded six shooters. Congratulations on a great season, gentlemen!

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Renegades The Texas Renegades "Wheel Horse" Award Renegades

(most assists this season)

In Texas, a right hand man or pal is known as a wheel horse! Given that this award is for most assists, I think we can all call that guy our right hand man!

Your Texas Renegades "Wheel Horse" this season is:

Chris Valentine (@downer)

You didn't think that the converted defenseman would forget how to find his open teammates did you? Now a couple of seasons into playing the forward position, Valentine has found his groove and paced all Renegades in assists this season with an outstanding 77 to perfectly fit with Season 77. Valentine, playing the center position, was a huge reason why Diehm and Zeigler above found the back of the net so often, and any teammate will tell you he makes them better. You can call him a center, you can call him a defenseman, but for this award we will call him a Wheel Horse!

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Renegades The Texas Renegades "Ranahan" Award Renegades

(most points this season)

Another name for the best cowboy or most experienced cowboy is Ranahan. Given that this award is going to the player who got the most points in a season, it’s fitting to call that person the top cowboy or “Ranahan”!

Your Texas Renegades "Ranahan" this season is:

Chris Valentine (@downer)

Given the amount of assists he finished with, it is not too much of a surprise that Chris Valentine takes home this award too! It was a career season for Valentine, as he shattered his previous best in points, jumping from 89 in Season 76 to an amazing 113 in Season 77. Everything was cooking for Valentine this season, as he balanced out the high assist total with a tied career best of 36 goals scored. Valentine has proven that he is one of the most complete players in the entire league, and this season he really broke out in a huge way. Valentine certainly is the "Ranahan" of the Renegades, and this award proves that. Congrats on a great season, Chris!

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The Texas Renegades "Fantobens Force" Award

(most hits this season)

Named after precious Joseph Fantobens, this award goes to the player with the most hits in a season. Joseph Fantobens was known for getting out there and crushing the body. For four straight seasons (S60-S63) Fantobens had over 300 hits a season. During those seasons he combined for a total of 1281 hits which is absolutely insane. To remember those bone crushing hits, we have named this award after him!

The Texas Renegade earning this seasons "Fantobens Force" award is:

Marton Diehm (@FaraDian)

For the second season in a row, forward Marton Diehm claims the Fantobens Force award in Texas as he registered 174 hits this season. Diehm has proven for years that he is one of the best power forwards in the game, with a knack of scaring opposing goaltenders with his goal scoring ability, but also opposing forwards with his strength and ability to lay the body. His opponents this season are most likely still icing from the games against Texas and Diehm, and for that reason this is a very well deserved award for Marton!

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The Texas Renegades "Puoli Pulverizer" Award

(most shots blocked)

Puolivalmiste played an integral part in Texas’s success. They organized and managed the team into a force and led them to two challenge cup victories, season 59 and season 62. Puoli is a very well respected user in the SHL and is an absolute wealth of knowledge. The “Puoli Pulverizer” Award goes to the player with the most shots blocked, a stat well loved by GMs and their players sacrifice the body to win the game!

The Texas Renegade earning the "Puoli Pulverizer" Award is:

Hodor! (@bbjygm)

Hodor!

Could it be anyone else!? If Vegas had odds on the Puoli Pulverizer award, I am not even sure there would be a bet for first place on the books because it would be too low of odds to even make a bet for it. Hodor is everyone's favorite shot blocker, and he did it again this year. Hodor blocked 321 shots this year, and the next closest player was at 179. This is just another year in the office for Hodor, who has become accustomed to not only leading the Renegades in shots blocked but also the SHL. We are very lucky to have Hodor on our team, and any of his teammates will thank him for absorbing the most painful of shots against. Hodor!

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The Texas Renegades "Buckaroo" Award Renegades

(most underrated)

This is a new award starting in S70! Replacing the Texas “Varmint” award for most penalty minutes, we wanted to have an award for a player on the team who performed very well but also may have flown under the radar. Everyone loves a Buckaroo!

The Texas Renegades "Buckaroo" this season is:

Roman Cechmanek II (@prattk1987)

In this day and age of the SHL, there is a lot of talk about goaltenders and does TPE matter, how big of a part does a goalie play in FHM, etc. Taking all of that into account for starting goaltenders, one could imagine how that then translates into the backup goalie. Most teams will fill the spot with an inactive player, earning no TPE but playing a serviceable role when called upon. Roman Cechmanek II was so much more than that for Texas this season. After being acquired from New Orleans for a 3rd round pick, Cechmanek took on the role of Anthony Dionne's backup, and what a season he had. In 20 games played, Cechmanek held a record of 16-2-1 with a .883 save percentage and a 3.22 goals against average. Cechmanek was instrumental in the Renegades success this season and someone the team could rely on, even when Dionne had a night off. On top of that, Cechmanek has been a great addition to the locker room and we are happy to have him in Texas. Thanks for helping us out a ton this season, Roman!

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Renegades The Texas Renegades "Drag Rider" Award Renegades

(top performing Goaltender)

This award is also the winner of the coolest award name. A Drag Rider is a cowboy who rides at the rear of the herd. Given that the goalie sits at the back, they are indeed the Texas Renegade “Drag Rider”.

The Texas Renegades "Drag Rider" this season is:

Anthony Dionne (@Anthique)

In what has become the yearly tradition, the Texas Drag Rider award goes to household name Anthony Dionne! In net, Dionne is a consistent force for Texas and this season he carried the load against the league's best night in and night out. Dionne did what he always does, winning a bunch of games and keeping the Renegades in each one. Dionne finished this season with a record of 28-16-3 with a 3.13 goals against average and a .894 save percentage. As mentioned above, the most key aspect to this award win is that Dionne was always in net against the best teams in the SHL and as he does every season, he was up to the challenge on each of those nights. We are lucky to have a netminder like Dionne in net each season!

That’s it for awards this season! It was another fun and successful regular season for Texas, but as anyone on the Renegades will tell you, there is one more thing that they need to accomplish and that is winning the cup. Texas currently sits at a 1-1 series tie with the Pride as I am writing this article. The Renegades and their fans are hoping that all of the above individual successes will carry over to the semi-final and get them that elusive cup that they have been chasing for the past several seasons. Thank you as always for reading, and congratulations to this season's award winners! Let's go Renegades!

TEX TEX TEX