Art Jones (January 31, 1935 – February 3, 2021) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

who played the majority of his career in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

for the

Portland Buckaroos The Portland Buckaroos was the name of several professional ice hockey teams based in Portland, Oregon. PCHL/NWHL era (1928–1941) The first incarnation of Portland Buckaroos played their home games at the Portland Ice Arena. The Buckaroos ini ...

Career

Jones played for the Buckaroos for their entire existence in the

(WHL) and led the team to three

Lester Patrick Cup The Lester Patrick Cup was the championship trophy of the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 1949 to 1974. Originally known as the Phil Henderson Cup and then in 1952 it was renamed to the President's Cup. The t ...

s, the WHL championship. He was the WHL's leading scorer six times, and won the George Leader Cup, given to the league's

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

, twice (in 1967–68 and 1970–71). In 1970, he set the WHL scoring record for most points (127) in a season. Jones also played for the

New Westminster Royals The New Westminster Royals was the name of several professional ice hockey teams based in New Westminster, British Columbia, first established in 1911 for the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). Though nominally based in New Westminster, ...

and

Victoria Cougars The Victoria Cougars were a major league professional ice hockey team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1911 to 1924 under various names, and (after the PCHA's merger with the Western Canada Hockey League) in the W ...

of the WHL, and the

Seattle Totems The Seattle Totems were a professional ice hockey franchise in Seattle, Washington. Under several names prior to 1958, the franchise was a member of the Pacific Coast Hockey League (renamed the Western Hockey League in 1952) between 1944 and 19 ...

of the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

. After retiring from hockey, Jones settled in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. He was named to the

Oregon Sports Hall of Fame The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall. Operated by the Oregon Sports ...

in 1984. Jones scored 1,580 points in 1,180 games, which is second only to

Guyle Fielder Guyle Abner Fielder (born November 21, 1930) is a retired American-born Canadian professional ice hockey center. He is most known for his time in the minor Western Hockey League, where he played from 1952 to 1973. Fielder also played 9 regular se ...

's 1,771 points in 1,368 WHL games. Although Fielder outscored Jones in the WHL by almost 200 points, Jones averaged a higher points per game total, averaging 1.34 PPG vs Fielder's WHL average of 1.29. , when including playing time in all minor professional leagues, Jones finished his career with 1,618 points, the third-highest total in minor league history. Fielder (1,929 career points) and longtime

Johnstown Jets The Johnstown Jets were a professional ice hockey team from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The Jets were founded in the Eastern Amateur Hockey League for the 1950–51 season, playing at the newly constructed Cambria County War Memorial Arena. The Jet ...

forward

Dick Roberge Dick Roberge (born April 7, 1934) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey forward and coach. He holds the record for most minor-league goals scored with 752. He is thought to be the inspiration behind Paul Newman's character, Reggie Dunlop ...

(1,740 career points) are the only players ahead of Jones.

Personal life

Jones retired from hockey in 1976. He died in

Happy Valley, Oregon Happy Valley is a suburban city in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. Happy Valley is near the northwest edge of Clackamas County, Oregon, United States approximately 10 miles to the southeast of downtown Portland, Oregon. The population was ...

, in 2021, three days after his 86th birthday.

References

External links

* 1935 births 2021 deaths Canadian ice hockey centres Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan New Westminster Royals players Portland Buckaroos players Seattle Totems (CHL) players Victoria Cougars (1949–1961) players {{Canada-icehockey-centre-1930s-stub