The 54-year-old was diagnosed with ALS in December of 2022 and went public with his diagnosis to help raise awareness for research.
Hockey lost one of the good ones on Friday morning.
The Ottawa Senators have announced that former assistant coach Bob Jones passed away today after his battle with ALS.
Jones was diagnosed in December 2022 with the disease, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He shared the news with the public shortly afterward, wanting to raise awareness for research.
After a fine career as an OHL defenceman in his hometown in Sault Ste. Marie, Jones played five years of pro hockey before returning home to start a coaching career. He spent 21 seasons as an OHL coach, four of them as a head coach. When he took over the top job in Windsor for one season in 2010-11, DJ Smith was his assistant.
Years later, Smith helped make Jones's NHL dream come true, hiring him as an assistant in Ottawa when he took over the Sens bench in 2019.
Last August, Jones's friends, colleagues and former players gathered for "All in 4 ALS: Jonesy’s Game," a charity hockey game at the WFCU Centre in Windsor. The game was a Who's Who of Windsor Spitfire greats, along with Sens players like Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris and Alex DeBrincat, all gathering to support their coach and friend.
“I want to create awareness for the event against this horrible disease and the need to find a cure for it,” Jones told the Windsor Star. “The medicine is so expensive, so you have to raise money to get a cure and help people afford it.”
Shortly after going public with his diagnosis in January 2023, Jones was presented with the tanning goggles that Ottawa's players always gave to the night's top player after victories that season.
“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 club statement Friday evening. “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 having a true joy for life and for his determined commitment to routinely help better individual players and all hockey organizations for which he worked.”
Jones is survived by his wife, Paige, and their two adult children, Blake and Brianna.