With the off-season addition of a precocious young netminder, the Okotoks Oilers have reinforced what was already a position of strength for the Junior A hockey team.
“ I feel we've got the best goaltending tandem in the AJHL,” said Oilers head coach James Poole of starting goalie Michael Tadjdeh and rookie netminder Jared D'Amico. “ I believe he's going to be an exceptional goalie in this league for many years, including this year.”
“ He's progressively got better as camp has gone on,” added Oilers assistant coach Bobby Fox. “ That's what you want to see with a young guy like that. If he continues that upward trend he's going to be a very good player come Christmas time in this league.”
Tadjdeh, who's coming off an 18-win season for Okotoks, said he's been impressed with D'Amico's game between the pipes through training camp and the preseason.
“ He's a good young goalie. His movement is pretty sharp, he's quick and he's got what it takes to be a great goaltender in this league,” said Tadjdeh.
At just 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, D'Amico is undersized for a goalie and leans heavily on his athleticism and compete level to stop pucks.
“ I'm not the biggest guy so
I've got to be in position and always reading the plays,” D'Amico said.
“ He's just got to be aggressive on the shooters, and just play a big game in net,” added Tadjdeh.
D'Amico has been on the Oilers' radar for quite some time.
He was drafted by the
Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League in 2008, but later signed a white card with the Okotoks Junior A organization.
The Chestermere native harnessed his skills as a goalie with the Edge Prep School Mountaineers in Calgary.
In 2009-10, he finished with a 2.06 goals against average and a stellar .940 save percentage en route to being named the top goaltender of the Rural Alberta Midget Hockey League.
D'Amico followed that with an equally impressive 2010-11 campaign with the Mountaineers in which he compiled a 10-0 record with a miniscule 1.44 goals against average in the Midwest Prep Hockey League (MPHL).
D'Amico and the Mountaineers had a wildly successful season, winning the MPHL and Canadian Sports School Hockey League and they even beat Minnesota's Shattuck St. Mary's, regarded as one of the top hockey schools, in February.
He said the major differences he's noticed at the AJHL level are the speed of the game and the skill of the players.
Tadjdeh and D'Amico said they haven't been told how many games each will start, with the latter expressing content with just arriving in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
“ I'm just hoping to earn my place as an Oiler and we'll go from there,” D'Amico said.
