Panthers' Seth Jones, son of NBA forward Popeye Jones, forged own career in NHL | D'Angelo

FORT LAUDERDALE Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones was 6-years-old when he and his younger brother, Caleb, settled in along the glass for Game 7 of the 2001 Stanley Cup Final in Denver.The Jones family was well connected when it came to securing Avalanche tickets.

Dad, Ronald 'Popeye' Jones, a former NBA forward and current Denver Nuggets assistant, played for the Nuggets and established a relationship with Avalanche center Joe Sakic, who played an important role in Seth's development as a hockey player.Colorado's 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils gave Seth a front row seat to the celebration, which included the long tradition of each player circling the ice while holding the Stanley Cup above his head."Seeing the Cup was unbelievable," Seth said.That is the closest Seth Jones, 30, has come to a Stanley Cup celebration.

Now, all that can change.

Instead of following his dad, Seth chose another path and 12 seasons into an NHL career he is in position to etch another Stanley Cup memory ...This one with him hoisting the Stanley Cup.Recent: Florida Panthers no longer satisfied just to play in Stanley Cup Final | D'Angelo"I'll never forget that moment," Jones said about watching the Avalanche celebration.

He spoke following a Panthers practice ahead of their Stanley Cup Final that starts June 4 in Edmonton."It is crazy that it kind of came full circle this way.

A lot's happened the last four months and I'm extremely happy where I'm at.

I'm happy I'm competing for a Stanley Cup.

This is what I wanted."What happened was Panthers GM Bill Zito made two brilliant moves at the trade deadline, acquiring Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks and Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins.Both have played vital roles in helping the Panthers advance to their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final with hopes of going back-to-back in the rematch with the Oilers.Seth Jones went from struggling Blackhawks to title contender PanthersWhen the deal was made in March, Panthers coach Paul Maurice knew he was getting a big (6-foot-4, 213 pounds), physical, offensive defensemen who can win the battles along the boards, disrupt shooters and create offense by rushing the puck.But while Jones was establishing himself as a four-time all-star playing in Nashville, Columbus and Chicago, his teams won just two playoff series his first 11 seasons."He could round the back of the net, and kick it up the ice, generate so much," Maurice said about Jones' style.Maurice recalls how Jones excelled during the playoffs.

"And then life happens.

Change teams and then just play on a couple of teams that were in different development curves.

Just weren't there yet."That all changed with one deal.

Jones went from a team (Blackhawks) who finished with the second fewest points in the league this season to one that will be playing well into June.In a little more than one month he's played in more winning postseason series than he had in his career.Jones transformed Florida's defense, took over the point on its top power play unit and was a natural fit for its physical, grind-'em-out style.

Matthew Tkachuk credits newcomers like Jones, Marchand and Anton Lundell for helping put the Panthers "over the top." Without them, says Tkachuk, the Panthers would not be four wins away from a second title."This is the player we had hope for," Maurice said about Jones, who has three goals and four assists in the playoffs, and is among the Panthers' plus-minus leaders.So how does the son of a man who pulled down just shy of 4,000 rebounds, averaged 7.0 points and guarded players like Karl Malone, Charles Barkley and Dennis Rodman wind up on skates?The answer is easy."It just never, never happened for me," Jones said about the desire to play organized basketball as a kid.And he's not Popeye Jones' only son in the NHL.

Seth's younger brother, Caleb, also a defenseman, has been in the league for seven years, playing last season with the L.A.

Kings.

The Jones brothers were teammates for two years in Chicago.Seth, though, still has a soft spot for basketball.

He loves watching the NBA playoffs, he enjoys "shooting hoops" whether in the gym or on a playground, and he plays pickup games in the summer.But he never played organized basketball.

Seth says Caleb did briefly, as did their other brother, Justin.

But they all preferred hockey.Seth began playing organized hockey when he was 6.

His dad was playing for the Nuggets at the time and when he saw his sons interest was on the ice and not the court, he asked Sakic, a Hall of Famer who played two decades in the NHL, for advice.Popeye has said he does not think Sakic knew who he was when he stopped him inside the arena and said, "My kids want to play hockey, and I really dont know anything about it."Figuring the boys would be athletically inclined, Sakic told Popeye to make sure they knew how to skate.

Seth then took lessons from a figure skating coach for a year before playing organized games."He was fine with it," Seth said about his dad.

"I never took basketball lessons like I did skating lessons.

He never pushed me to do something if I didn't want to do it."My parents were big into that.

They never pushed me into something I didn't love."Environment played a big part of Seth's hockey obsession.

Maybe if his dad was in Miami or Phoenix, the exposure to hockey would have been different.

But after three years in Dallas Seth was born in Arlington, Texas Popeye spent the next six seasons in Toronto, Boston, Denver and Washington.All hockey hotbeds to varying degrees."The Avalanche were really good in early 2000s.

I don't think I was the only kid that started playing because of that," Seth said."It's just funny how things kind of just line up and work.

All these little things in your life kind of add up to where you are today.

And one thing changes your whole life today could be different."NBA/NHL Game 7 doubleheader for Jones familyMay 18 was bitter/sweet for the Jones family.Two Game 7s.

Two lopsided results.

One a downer.

One reason to celebrate.During the day, Popeye was in Oklahoma City on the Nuggets' bench as Denver was looking to eliminate the team with the best regular season record in the NBA.

Any chance of an upset ended early.

The Thunder eliminated the Nuggets with an easy 125-93 victory.OKC now is headed to the NBA Finals.Hours later, Seth set the tone for the Panthers' 6-1 beatdown of the Toronto Maple Leafs with his best game of the playoffs.

He opened the scoring in the second period with a wrist shot to the far side, just over goalie Joseph Woll's blocker.

He added an assist on Jonah Gadjovich's goal just more than six minutes later that made it 3-1.And he would have had a second goal had it not been disallowed because of goaltender interference.An historic NBA/NHL crossover day.Seth was asked if had a chance to see any of his dad's game as he was preparing for his game in Toronto.I was watching a little bit of the first half before our game, Seth said following the Panthers win.

It wasnt pretty for him."Although Popeye never won a title as a player, he does have a championship ring as a Nuggets assistant in 2023.We'll know soon if Seth is able to match his Pops and come full circle from that night 24 years ago when he got to witness his only Stanley Cup celebration in person.Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post.

He can be reached at [email protected] article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Panthers' Seth Jones, Nuggets assistant Popeye Jones an NHL/NBA family.

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