Back in Wolves country
Being in Sudbury for a playoff matchup as head coach of the Oshawa Generals is a homecoming of sorts for Bobby Jones.
Not that the 47-year old Jones is from Sudbury.
But the veteran Ontario Hockey League coach — who hails from Haviland Bay, Ont., just outside Sault Ste. Marie — did spend three seasons in Sudbury from 2004 to 2007 as the Wolves associate coach.
In fact, in his last year in Sudbury, Jones was part of an overachieving Wolves team that made it all the way to the OHL finals despite having a regular-season record below the .500 mark.
Now, Jones is back in Sudbury as Oshawa’s coach for Games 3 and 4 (tonight and Thursday) of a first-round, OHL Eastern Conference playoff with the series tied 1-1.
As a coach in the OHL, Jones — who is in his second season as Oshawa’s head master — has more than paid his dues.
All together, Jones spent 19 — that’s right, 19 — OHL seasons as either an associate or assistant coach over successful stints with Soo Greyhounds, Brampton (now North Bay) Battalion, erstwhile Toronto St. Michael’s Majors, Windsor Spitfires and Sudbury.
With Windsor, Jones was part of two Memorial Cup championship teams.
As the lead coach in Oshawa, Jones led the youthful, deadline-seller Generals to an 85-point, 2016-2017 regular-season record of 40-23-5.
Before going to Oshawa, the only other season that Jones spent as a head coach was the 2010-2011 term in which he led Windsor into the third round of the playoffs.
As good and honest and as loyal a person as you will find in major junior hockey, Jones is the type of person who one wants to root for.
PHOTO: Oshawa Generals head coach Bobby Jones.