Flyers' unusual choice for president looked out of place as a player too
Reshuffling their front office after another lackluster season, the Philadelphia Flyers have reportedly named former player and television analyst Keith Jones as the franchise's new president of hockey operations.
Jones is an unusual choice for the Flyers. However, Jones has somehow hung around the NHL in some regard for the better part of three decades, despite never looking the part wherever he's landed.
As a rookie during the 1992-93 season, members of the Washington Capitals confused an admittedly out-of-shape Jones for the equipment guy.
"My first day, I'm standing there, Michal Pivonka, Peter Bondra are there, and they go, 'Hey kid, can you grab my sticks there?'" Jones said on an episode of "Spittin' Chiclets" in 2022. "And I'm like, that's kind of a strange request. I walk over, I get Pivonka's sticks, I bring them over, and he says thank you."
A week later, while the three teammates sat on the bench during a preseason game, a laughing Bondra revealed that Pivanka had mistaken the oblivious Jones for one of the stick boys.
Jones' career wasn't off to the best start, but he made it work as always. The 54-year-old went on to play nine years in the NHL for the Capitals, Colorado Avalanche and Flyers before transitioning to another unlikely career in television, covering the NHL for NBC, TNT/TBS and ESPN.
According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, the Flyers will formally announce Jones as the new president of hockey operations on Thursday morning.
That's not all the Flyers plan to do. Per Friedman, the Flyers will also remove the "interim" tag from general manager Daniel Briere.
Hiring two former Flyers to turn around the franchise's sinking ship isn't surprising for a team known for keeping things in-house. Whether the move will please fans and yield positive results remains to be seen.
Fan favorites or not, the pressure will be on Briere and Jones. Once one of the NHL's most consistently competitive teams, the Flyers have finished sixth or worse within the division in six of the last nine seasons.
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