Former Ottawa Senators Assistant Coach Bob Jones Dies After Battle with ALS
Former Ottawa Senators assistant coach Bob Jones has passed away after a battle with ALS, the team announced Friday. Jones, who was 54, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in December 2022. At the time of his diagnosis, he was in his fourth season on the Senators’ coaching staff.
“The entire Senators’ organization is thinking of Bob’s loved ones and sending our sincere condolences to his family,” Senators owner Michael Andlauer said in a news release. “For both our current players and for the members of our staff who had the privilege of working with Bob, his loss brings considerable sorrow. Bob will be fondly remembered for his true joy for life and his determined commitment to routinely help better individual players and all hockey organizations for which he worked.”
ALS affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, which control breathing and voluntary muscle movement. The disease is progressive, worsening symptoms over time and leading to increased loss of muscle control. In the past two years, Calgary Flames assistant GM Chris Snow and Hockey Hall of Famer Borje Salming have also passed away following battles with ALS.
Despite his diagnosis, Jones continued to work with the Senators through the remainder of the 2022-23 campaign and into 2023-24. He made his diagnosis public in January 2023 and became a vocal advocate for ALS research awareness. At the time of his diagnosis, the Jones family encouraged those considering contributions to donate to the ALS Society of Canada and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
In August 2023, coaches and players who play or played for the Senators and the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, with whom Jones won the Memorial Cup in 2008-09 and 2009-10, held an ALS fundraiser game in his honor. The “All in 4 ALS: Jonesy’s Game” in Windsor featured players and coaches such as Adam Henrique, D.J. Smith, Pete DeBoer, Will Cuylle, Brady Tkachuk, and Taylor Hall. All proceeds from the event benefitted the ALS clinic at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.
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Jones, born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, coached in the OHL from 1995 to 2018 for teams including the Soo Greyhounds, Brampton Battalion, Toronto St. Michael’s Majors, Sudbury Wolves, Spitfires, and Oshawa Generals. He served as an assistant coach for the AHL’s Texas Stars in 2018-19 before joining D.J. Smith’s staff in Ottawa between 2019-20 and 2023-24. Jones was also the head coach of Ontario’s U-17 team at the World Hockey Challenge in 2003-04. Before his coaching career, Jones played five seasons for his hometown Greyhounds from 1985 to 1990, followed by stints in the former IHL, AHL, Central Ontario Hockey League, and in the United Kingdom.
Jones is survived by his wife, Paige, and children, Blake and Brianna.
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