The Nanaimo Clipper’s third-year starting goaltender, Jordan Naylor, is receiving the honour of being the Male Athlete of the Year for Nanaimo in 2020. This is an award that only a few Clippers over the years have received.
In the 2019-2020 season with the Nanaimo Clippers, Jordan played in 41 games with a sparkling 2.02 goals-against average and a save percentage of a staggering .935. He also had six shutouts. In the playoffs of 2020, he continued his excellent play with a .934 save percentage and a 2.25 goals-against average. The regular-season save percentage and shutouts is a top-five performance by any goalie in the history of the BCHL, showing how strong a performance Jordan had in 2020.
In the first half of the 2020-2021 season, Jordan continued his excellent play posting a .928 save percentage and 2.63 goals-against average in 15 games for the Clippers before the season was interrupted in November with Covid 19 restrictions.
Wes Mussio, owner of the Clippers, stated, “This is a well-deserved award for Jordan. He was absolutely lights out in the net for the Clippers throughout 2020. If not for Covid 19 lockdowns, I was pretty certain that the Clippers would’ve headed towards a national championship on the backs of Jordan’s unbelievable goaltending. With Jordan ageing out this year, we will have a very difficult time getting a replacement starting goaltender that comes close to how good Jordan has been for us. He definitely has a bright future ahead in college hockey and likely pro hockey.”
Colin Birkas, Associate Coach added; “In all the years of coaching, I have to say that Jordan’s performance in 2020 was the best I’ve ever seen. We had a great defensive core but when the other team had a chance to score, Jordan was there to back up the defence in most situations. His goaltending made my job that much easier.”
