BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
Bob Jones was heard loud and clear in his
first season as an associate coach with the Sudbury
Wolves.
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Bob Jones enjoyed his first year as
the Wolves associate coach. |
Jones' booming voice and vast knowledge of
hockey helped the Wolves become one of the stingiest teams in
the league by working up close and personal with the team's
defence corps.
Overall, the Wolves cut their goals against
by 35, one of the best ever results in franchise history.
From his first year experience, Jones feels
he has made the right move.
"It was rewarding for me to work with Mike
Foligno, who I think is one of the premiere coaches in the
OHL," said Jones.
"Mike has a wealth of knowledge from the NHL
and the AHL, and now the OHL, so it was great to learn from
him. To come to Sudbury, which is close to my hometown of Sault
Ste. Marie has been a nice experience. When you come into a new
place, you want to prove yourself and show your worth, and the
Wolves staff allowed me to do that. Working for the Burgess
family has been a pleasure as well because they treat me
good."
Jones has coached for Sault Ste. Marie,
Brampton and Toronto, and worked with plenty of high calibre
defencemen such as Rotislav Klesla, Jay Harrison, Richard
Jackman and Nathan McIver.
The awesome group of defencemen assembled in
Sudbury has Jones smiling wide. "We had a real solid core of
guys in Brampton who were high NHL draft picks, and this
Sudbury core is as good, or better than that group in
Brampton," said Jones. "This could be the best conglomeration
of defencemen I have ever worked with. They are special
players."
Jones lived up to his billing in his first
year with the Wolves.
"Bob was a good addition," said Wolves head
coach and GM Mike Foligno. "he has the experience at this level
and had success. He's been in the league for 10 years, so he
knows what level of play our players need to play at to
succeed."
Jones' powerful voice was a bonus and the
Wolves brass is hoping the vocal skills rub off on
players.
"He's pretty vocal out there on the ice,"
said Foligno. "Bob makes sure the players hear what he has to
say. He tries to be an extra set of eyes out there for them. He
teaches the players to talk to one another. Communication is
important. Players do it at the NHL and AHL level, and I don't
think a lot of junior players talk enough to one
another."
Jones had no problems adjusting to Sudbury,
and enjoyed being on the other side of having rabid Wolves'
fans cheer for him, rather than against him.
"I had no idea just how big Sudbury has
become," said Jones. "It's a great city and a nice place to
raise a young family. I had concerns about moving here from
Toronto, but the Wolves organization helped my family find a
place to live and made adjusting a lot easier. The fans were a
bit overwhelming to be honest. In Toronto, we had about 1,100
fans, but to come here and see about 5,000 fans every game
always gave me an unbelievable feeling.
He finds the fans in Sudbury are very
knowledgeable."The people are friendly and always want to talk
hockey, and that makes it a great place to work."
Above all else, Jones adds credibility and an
element of fun.
"Bob is easy to talk to and very personable,"
said Foligno. "I don't know too many people who don't like Bob.
Everywhere we go, he gets a lot of
respect and is well liked. Bob likes to have
fun and have a comfortable learning environment."
