First impressions don’t get much better than a shutout on home-ice.
New signing Jack McNaughton marked his regular season debut with the Green-and-Gold on a 20-save shutout performance as the Okotoks Oilers (10-14-1) blanked the Olds Grizzlys 4-0 on Nov. 20 at Pason Centennial Arena to snap an eight-game losing streak on home-ice.
“It was great, especially because I know a lot of the guys on the team from when I was younger,” McNaughton said. “It was awesome, the crowd was great as well and I’m just happy with how everything went.
“They made my job certainly easy today and they’ve made it really comfortable here since day one when I got here.”
Joining a team mid-season is a new experience for the veteran netminder, one that’s been made as smooth as possible by all parties.
“It’s a little bit different, I’ve never done this before and it was kind of out of the blue and happened quick,” he said. “They’ve been treating me amazing, better than I could ask for, it’s been awesome for us.
“The biggest thing is (the Oilers) are known as a winning organization and I have a really good relationship with their goalie coach Derek Purfield, it’s close to home as well for me. I just came here to win and want to help them do that and they’re known for that.”
McNaughton, a 6-foot-1, 192 pound shotstopper, skated with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen over the past four seasons, registering 46 wins and a .884 save percentage in the Dub.
The 2001-born Calgarian also got in the net for one game during Okotoks’ exhibition action last season on an emergency loan basis.
“We’ve known him from the past, he played a couple games with us last year when we had him and we’re fortunate to get him in this year,” said Oilers head coach and GM Tyler Deis. “Just with his experience and his age we knew with our young team he could come in and help us settle things down.
“He knows how to manage the game, how to manage the ebs and flows of the game, and with our team being the age that we are that's exactly what we need.”
Oilers forward Ethan Jamernik has been buddies with McNaughton since Grade 8, dating back to their days with the Calgary Royals AAA program.
He’s more than thrilled to be reunited with his former teammate.
“I’ve always said he’s the best goalie I’ve ever played with and I keep telling everybody that since we were young,” Jamernik said. “The guy sees the puck like nobody else, he talks and communicates with the d-men and everything just moves smoothly out there.
“He’s super calm, in the room he keeps everybody level-headed and is a great influence on the younger guys. It’s great to have him here.”
This week marked not only the addition in goal, but the reinforcements of a full lineup of full-time members of the squad for the first time in over a month after injuries have taken their toll at both the forward and defenceman positions.
“It’s the confidence,” Jamernik added. “The team is super young and a very skilled team, but when you don’t have that age in your lineup sometimes the emotion can get too high or too low, it fluctuates and can cause panic sometimes.
“When we have these guys back in the lineup now we feel that sense of security almost where guys can stick to their job.”
Forwards Bowden Singleton, Ty Yoder and blueliners Tucker McRae and Sam Moshurchak provided the offence in the 4-0 victory over Olds.
The Oilers were 2-for-3 on the powerplay and killed off all five shorthanded situations in the big divisional win, the team’s first victory on home-ice since Thanksgiving weekend.
“It felt like a big snowball rolling down on us,” Jamernik said. “And we’re all trying to catch it and once we caught it, we got the guys back in the lineup, some extra hands on it and we’re pushing that snowball back up the hill.”
Okotoks turns its attention north this week with its first three games in three nights road trip of the season from Nov. 26-28, with pit stops in Grande Prairie, Whitecourt and Drayton Valley.
“The three in threes are extra tricky,” Jamernik said. “Not only is it physically demanding, but it’s the mental side that’s the most demanding part of it. It’s just bang-bang-bang, play that one game, win or lose move on and forget about it and move to the next game.
“You’ve got to keep building, own that momentum and keep it throughout the weekend.”
The Oilers’ next home date is Dec. 4 versus the Calgary Canucks.
For more information go to okotoksoilers.ca
