A mid-season acquisition from last season continues to be fruitful for the Okotoks Oilers.
Brought in to shore up the defence last winter, 1996-born Jordan Davies has taken his game to another level in his first full season with the Alberta Junior Hockey League club.
“I did a lot of training in the off-season and just came in with more confidence. It’s your last year and don’t want any regrets,” Davies said. “It’s my last year and at the end of the day I want to be on a team that wins. I think we have a pretty good chance.
“And putting up points is nice, too.”
Production has been there from the first puck-drop in September. The Sherwood Park native leads all AJHL defencemen with 32 assists and is fifth overall in the category. His 34 points place him second among all blueliners in the provincial loop.
“He’s a bigger body and really moves well,” said Oilers assistant coach Kyle Schussler, and former Okotoks blueliner. “He’s got a presence out there that a lot of teams recognize. The combination of the two, his size, toughness and his speed are things that really benefit him. He opens up a lot of ice for himself and teammates.”
Davies, who boasts 15 helpers on the man advantage, has been a fixture as a powerplay quarterback for the Oilers on a unit which struggled to start the season before becoming a major source of offence over the last six weeks.
“We’ve tried a lot of different combinations, worked a ton of players into the rotation here and he’s one of the guys that has been able to stick with that top group,” Schussler added. “He’s one of the guys that can control that back-end. To have a guy that can move the puck as well as he can and make sure to have that composure and patience is very important.”
After mixing and matching the defence pairings to start the season, Davies has found a home alongside alternate captain Carson Beers – no slouch in the production department.
“Confidence is the biggest thing. When you play with confidence you’re going to produce,” Davies said. “I also play with a partner who’s very offensive as well and that helps.
“We’re building chemistry. He’s good at talking with me and letting me know where he’s ready to go be, when to shoot and pass.”
Beers, who skated next to former captain and offensive blueliner Connor Chambers last season, attributed the pairing’s success to cohesion.
“For a d-pairing to work well together you’ve got to work well off the ice, too. I get to know him a lot better off the ice,” Beers said. “This year he just seems more confident. He came in as a new guy it was hard for him to interact with the players.
“Now everyone knows him and he’s probably one of our more vocal guys in the room.”
Davies and Beers lead a strong blueline that goes eight deep also featuring sophomores Travis Verveda, Reece Soukoroff, Riley Mathies and rookies Jacob Bernard-Docker, Ryan Roberts and Ayden-Roche Setoguchi.
“We’ve got eight D. They all can play,” Davies said. “It’s easy, you know when they’re going out they’re going to be just as good as everyone else. We’ve got confidence in all eight of our D and every night we come to play.”
