Keith Jones (born November 8, 1968) is 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 ...

former professional

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 ...

player. He was formerly a hockey studio analyst for NBC/NBCSN. He currently works as the lead

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...

for

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

games on NBC Sports Philadelphia, and the lead "Inside-the-Glass" reporter on ''

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

''. In 491 NHL games, Jones produced a total of 258 points between 1992 and 2000.

Minor Hockey

Keith grew up in the small town of Paris, Ontario - just outside of Brantford - hometown of Wayne Gretzky. He played minor hockey for the Paris Wolfpack of the OMHA until Midget before two seasons playing Jr.C. for the Paris Mounties (OHA) at age 17 and 18. It is believed that Jones is the only player to play Jr.C. level hockey in Ontario at age 18 and eventually crack the National Hockey League. Two others, Hunter Drew (Anaheim) and Ryan Jones (no relation - Edmonton) played Jr.C. at 17 and eventually cracked the NHL. Jones played Midget at 16, Jr.C. at 17 and 18 and then Jr.B. at age 19. At age 19 he moved up to the Niagara Falls Canucks of the Golden Horseshoe Jr.B. hockey league. It was in Niagara Falls that he secured a hockey scholarship to Western Michigan in 1988.

Playing career

Jones was drafted in the seventh round, 141st overall, of the

1988 NHL Entry Draft The 1988 NHL Entry Draft was the 26th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Forum in Montreal, Quebec. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Teemu Selanne, who retired after the 2013–14 season. Selections by round Below ...

by the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

. He played his college hockey at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

, and professionally for the Capitals,

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (N ...

and

. He played in 491 NHL games, scoring 117 goals and assisting on 141 others for a total of 258 points.

Sportscasting career

Beginning with the 2005–2006 NHL season, Jones has worked as an in-studio TV analyst alongside host

Bill Clement William H. Clement (born December 20, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who became an author, speaker, actor, entrepreneur, and hockey broadcaster. Clement played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), and was ...

and analyst

Brian Engblom Brian Paul Engblom (born January 27, 1955) is a Canadian ice hockey broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and a former professional hockey defenseman. Biography Engblom was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and played for the University of Wiscons ...

for '' The NHL on NBC'' (formerly ''

The NHL on Versus ''The NHL on Versus'' was a presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games broadcast on Versus. Versus became the NHL's cable partner in the United States beginning in the 2005–06 season from previous partner ESPN, providing coverage of r ...

'') later host

Liam McHugh Liam McHugh (born ) is an American television sportscaster. He is a studio host for Turner Sports coverage of the NHL. He previously worked on NBC Sports coverage of the NHL as well as Notre Dame Fighting Irish football and ''NBC Sunday Night F ...

, Mike Milbury, and

Patrick Sharp Patrick Sharp (born December 27, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks and Dallas Stars. After his retirement as a pla ...

. In addition to his duties at

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

NBCSN NBCSN was an American sports television channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated to programming prim ...

, Jones also works for NBC Sports Philadelphia as a color commentator and analyst for the

Flyers Flyer or flier may refer to: *An aviator, a person who flies an aircraft *Flyer (pamphlet), a single-page leaflet Music * ''Flyer'' (album), by Nanci Griffith * Flyer (band), a Croatian pop band Sports *Flyer, a position in cheerleading stunt ...

. In fall 2021, Jones joined TNT/TBS as the lead "Inside-the-Glass" reporter joining the lead broadcast team of

Kenny Albert Kenneth Gary Albert (born February 2, 1968) is an American sportscaster, the son of NBA sportscaster Marv Albert and nephew of sportscasters Al Albert and Steve Albert. He is the only sportscaster who currently does play-by-play for all four ...

and Eddie Olczyk. In addition, he co-hosts a sports talk show on 94 WIP Monday through Friday mornings, and he appears frequently on TSN as an NHL analyst. In 2007, Jones, along with

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of American cable and satellite television network ESPN. The show covers various sports teams and athletes from around the world and o ...

'' anchorman John Buccigross, wrote his autobiography ''Jonesy: Put Your Head Down and Skate''. Along with a foreword by

Ray Bourque Raymond Jean Bourque (born December 28, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He holds records for most career goals, assists, and points by a defenceman in the National Hockey League (NHL). He won the James Norris Memoria ...

, the book recounts many of the stories that Jones witnessed throughout his career. Jones is a resident of

Shamong Township, New Jersey Shamong Township is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 6,460, a decline of 30 (-0.5%) from the 2010 census count of 6,490, which in turn reflecte ...

.Leakan, Paul
"Reeve Paralysis Foundation cause hits home Med. Lakes family to host fund-raiser"
''

Burlington County Times The ''Burlington County Times'' is a daily newspaper located in Westampton, New Jersey, U.S. The paper, which is part of the Gannett chain of newspapers, covers municipal and county issues in Burlington County, New Jersey as well as local and pr ...

'', March 6, 2005. Retrieved February 4, 2013. "Dana Reeve, country-music star Kenny Rogers, Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Jon Runyan, who lives in Mount Laurel, and former Philadelphia Flyers right-winger Keith Jones, a resident of Shamong, are among those scheduled to attend, Miles said."

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Keith 1968 births Baltimore Skipjacks players Canadian ice hockey right wingers Colorado Avalanche players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from Ontario Living people National Hockey League broadcasters People from Shamong Township, New Jersey Philadelphia Flyers announcers Philadelphia Flyers players Portland Pirates players Sportspeople from Brantford Washington Capitals draft picks Washington Capitals players Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey players