Martin Jones savors fathers’ trip, homecoming

Getty ImagesWhen Martin Jones stepped onto the Rogers Arena ice for the morning skate yesterday, it was far from the first time that the rookie goaltender had taken in the expansive confines of the Vancouver Canucks’ home arena.

Though Jones was signed by the Kings as an undrafted free agent in 2008, he has previously set foot in the Canucks’ locker room, and boasts experience from his childhood and teenage days of stopping shots on the same ice that the Kings skated off following a 3-2 overtime victory on Monday night.

His father, Harvey, who is currently rooming with his son on the biennial fathers’ trip, is Vice President, Construction with the Vancouver Canucks after having served as Vice President and General Manager, Arena Operations. He is listed under the “Ownership and Senior Management” banner on the Canucks’ front office staff listings.

“It was great. I had lots of friends and family there,” the North Vancouver native said of his return home. “It was a fun experience. I was able to skate on that ice when I was 10 or 11 years old, so to come back now, it was pretty special.”

Jones, who has pre-season experience at the NHL level but is yet to appear in a regular season NHL game, already has the fortune of sharing a row on the team charter plane with his father – which, given the travel circumstances, came with the familiar perk of a middle-of-the-night check in at the team’s San Jose hotel.

Not that Jones finds anything at fault with the current travel arrangements.

“It’s great. It’s pretty fortunate timing. The first call-up, to be able to do it during the father-son trip and share that experience with my dad, it’s awesome.”

From KingsVision:

Jones, on whether he was a fan of Kirk MacLean, or any particular goaltender:
I like watching all different goalies and kind of picking parts out of their game which I like. There’s obviously Kirk in Vancouver, who was a fun guy to watch, but there were lots of goalies. I liked watching everybody.

Jones, on the experience thus far with the Kings:
It’s been busy. Our schedule’s been game day-off, game day-off pretty much since I’ve been here. I’ve kept busy, which has probably helped a little bit, and it’s been good. I’m feeling good with the tempo of practice and stuff. I’ve just got to continue to work hard and be ready when I get called upon.

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