Top Dogs of the Past: Weekly Alumni Series – Ben Jones
IceDogs’ Alumni Ben Jones was with the team for four seasons between 2015-2019. During his last year in 2019, he captained his team to the conference semifinals tallying an impressive 102 points in 68 games during the 2018/2019 season. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights and is currently playing for their AHL affiliate the Henderson Silver Knights. Jones recently played his NHL debut with Vegas. Since then, alongside his training, Jones has created the ‘Ben Jones Foundation’ with the intent to break the cost barrier of playing hockey; granting more accessibility to hockey for all youth athletes.
We recently had the chance to catch up with Ben and ask him about his time with the IceDogs and his new foundation.
How did your time with the IceDogs help you transition to being a professional?
“My time with the IceDogs had a tremendous impact on my transition into being a professional. The IceDogs staff from top to bottom really went out of their way to give us players every opportunity for success. The locker room is top notch with many services that other junior teams do not have. (sauna, hyperbaric chamber etc.) We also got treated very well when we were on the road, in terms of leaving a day early and staying over in a hotel when the drive would feel too long for a same day travel schedule during a game day. The coaches and staff also went very out of their way to help us players develop into good people and they tried to help us turn into good professionals after we left the team.”
What inspired you to create the Ben Jones Foundation? What does this cause mean to you?
“I have been wanting to start something like the Ben Jones Foundation for a long time now. I believe that as professional athletes we can underestimate the impact that we can have on the community and on kids especially. Ever since I was with he IceDogs I noticed how impactful it was to be in the community and sharing experiences and trying to be a role model for young kids growing up. This summer it all seemed to sort of fall into place with meeting with the Fox Ellis Agency and sharing what I had in mind for my foundation. I was inspired by the idea of being able to help all kids have the opportunity to grow up playing sports. I realize that I was fortunate enough to play all kinds of sports growing up before picking hockey, and even when I decided to only play hockey there was an immense amount of financial and time commitment put on my parents. I realize that this can be a very tough challenge for some families especially from a financial standpoint. The foundation is aimed at helping relieve some of those challenges. This cause is very special to me because I know how impactful it is to grow up playing sports. It allowed me to learn many skills that will help me in life, along with exposing me to all kinds of different cultures and experiences, which I believe is very important.”
Recall your favourite memory/moment from your IceDogs’ experience
“One of my favourite memories/moments from being on the team was going to the OHL finals in my rookie season. I also have a ton of memories from my last year in Niagara when we had a very strong team and we had the amazing fans behind us pushing to finish in the best position we could in the league standings before heading into playoffs.”
What experiences that you had with the IceDogs have you been able to draw upon so far in your professional career?
“There have been many experiences from being with the IceDogs that I draw upon during my professional career. I think one of the main experiences was learning the way of trying to be a good leader for my team, but also within the community. The IceDogs put a big focus on being a good person at and away from the rink and I think I continue to try and draw from that everyday.”
Reflect on what it was like to be a captain/leader for an organization like the IceDogs, was it special?
“It was very special for me to be a captain for the IceDogs. Since the very first day I got there I wanted to be someone to try and help lead the team throughout the season. I was very honoured when I was named captain and it was something I will always be very proud of and feel very lucky to be able to have done. Coming into the OHL you are so young, and I was fortunate enough to be able to have had some awesome captains before me to learn from and look up to. Throughout my time with the team I wanted to be that person for young players to come to and ask questions and try to look up to.”
It was a pleasure speaking with Ben, and we are honoured to have someone so committed to helping out young athletes as our alumni. Check out his foundation at
