The Ottawa Senators are rallying around assistant coach Bob Jones following his diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Jones was diagnosed in early January and reported to the Senators players and coaches shortly after. The team announced his diagnosis Tuesday because Jones and his family want to raise awareness for ALS research.
“It makes us want to just leave it all out there because we think a loss or a bad game is the end of the world, but no, there are people in life who go through much harder things,” captain Brady Tkachuk said. “The fact that he wants to be here every step of the way and see all of us as a group and as an organization, to make our dreams come true, I think that speaks volumes for the person that he is and how much he cares about this team and players in the dressing room.
“It just makes us want to find that extra level to get the job done. It’s an honor.”
Jones, 53, is currently in his fourth season as an assistant coach with the Senators after being named head coach on DJ Smith’s staff on July 5, 2019.
He’s just a guy who’s taken care of players for decades.— Senators head coach DJ Smith on assistant Bob Jones
He joined the club while having previous experience in the American Hockey League and a decorated coaching career in the Ontario Hockey League spanning more than 20 seasons.
“I’ve known him for a long time. The players love him, his wife, his kids, all his friends,” Smith said. “I know how many messages he got and I got for him today.
“He’s just a guy who’s been taking care of players for decades.”
Bob Jones is one of the kindest, funniest and gentlest people you will ever meet. Courage of him and his family to share their ALS diagnosis to help others. He is at work today. pic.twitter.com/C0GbsUvfZp
—@SunGarrioch
“Full support of the organization”
An off-season resident of Tecumseh, Ontario, Jones and his wife, Paige, have two children, Blake and Brianna. The Jones family asked those considering donations to consider both the ALS Society of Canada and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
“We have been working internally with Bob and his family as he takes on this challenge,” Dorion said in a statement. “Although Bob will continue his coaching duties, he has the full support of the organization to take any time away from the club during the season to focus on his health and family.”
ALS is a progressive disease of the nervous system that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control. It is often called Lou Gehrig’s disease, after the Hall of Fame baseball player who was diagnosed with it in 1939.
Calgary Flames assistant GM Chris Snow also has ALS. His disease was diagnosed in January 2020.
Smith said Jones and Snow shared that they had ALS.
“I think it meant a lot to connect with someone who has,” Smith said. “Unless someone is going through what you’re going through, it’s really hard to take advice.
“I don’t know that, you know, I’m not in his shoes. But it is [helps to talk to] somebody else in the hockey world who’s been through that, who’s gone to work every day, who’s kept his mental sanity through it all.”
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