FUTURE WATCH: Jones makes NHL debut in front of family and friends

EDMONTON, AB - Amy Jones couldn't stop herself from going full mom when Caleb called her at midnight last Wednesday with the news that he had been called up to the Oilers for the first time in his career.
"We were probably up for hours just figuring it all out," Amy, detailing the moment, said.
"I was like, 'Don't forget your contacts. You can forget your toothbrush, you can forget anything but just not your contacts.' Then I called back and I was like, 'Pack lots of underwear because you don't know how long you're going to be going. Lots of boxers. Lots of boxers!'"
Mom, please…
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"She made me a little nervous honestly throughout the day," Jones, after his second National Hockey League outing, joked. "I'm just trying to focus on the hockey game but that's how it is; that's how moms are."
The proud parent bought a ticket and boarded a plane alongside Caleb's grandmother to witness the joyous event that was the defenceman's NHL debut against the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday. She watched her son play 18 shifts and log 11:59 of ice time in Edmonton's 4-1 victory over the Flyers but wasn't present when Jones followed up his first game by playing 16:57 in Vancouver on Sunday or register his first career point on Tuesday in Edmonton's 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues.
Caleb's fared well in his debut shake with the Oilers. He's utilized his strengths to make the transition as smooth as possible, making crisp passes, defending steadily and skating when he sees open ice. While nerves are a by-product of the NHL introduction, on-ice confidence must be manufactured. It was Caleb's brother, none other than Columbus Blue Jackets stalwart Seth Jones, who helped with that.
"My brother told me you got to play with confidence and you got to believe you belong," Caleb, a 2015 fourth-round selection, said. "People say a coach can take confidence away from you but I don't really believe that. I think if you lose confidence, it's on you. You got to know you're a good player, know your strengths and know your weaknesses."
Caleb entered Oilers Training Camp in what seemingly appeared to be mid-season shape. The Texas product scored two goals and 12 points in 21 games with the Condors in 2018-19, being rewarded for his performance in the last few months. The rearguard attributes his summer training and strong American Hockey League showing as building blocks of his current gusto and doesn't have much pressure from the Oilers coaching staff, who want Caleb to simply play his game.

Oilers Head Coach Ken Hitchcock admitted he had limited knowledge of Caleb, who Oilers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Peter Chiarelli called up as a result of injuries to Kris Russell and Oscar Klefbom. After two games with Caleb on the bench, Hitchcock lauded the defencemen off the ice and awarded him on it. The left-shot defender was on the ice in the final two minutes of play versus the Canucks on Sunday and has played on the second pairing with his ice time increasing in each new appearance.
"What I see is composure under fire," said Hitchcock. "That is an easy thing to talk about but a hard thing to have. He does not panic when the puck's up for grab. He doesn't panic in high traffic with the puck and I think that's something, growth-wise, that's very special, and not many players have.
"To me, if he's going to grow from that, then we've got ourselves a hell of a hockey player."
It's been a big week for the 21-year-old, from getting the call, to packing frantically, to making his debut in front of family and friends, to nabbing his first puck because of his first NHL point.
Getting to share it with those close to him was just icing on the cake for Caleb, but it wouldn't be a family affair without mom getting in the last word. Amy shared a story from one of her family's trips to Edmonton when Caleb was in town for a tournament. His minor team had decided to watch an Edmonton Oilers game - the club Caleb would end up being drafted by and play for many, many years later - but of course, the young Caleb had other plans.
"We were the only family to miss the game because we were in the emergency room here in Edmonton with a quarter in Caleb Jones' mouth that he decided to swallow," she told.