Caleb, who describes himself as a mobile two-way defenseman, has been training with Seth down in Fort Lauderdale as he prepares for his new opportunity in Pittsburgh. That’s a departure from their usual routine, as the brothers typically work out in Dallas. They were both born in Texas, as their father Ronald ‘Popeye’ Jones played for the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.
The boys got into hockey during Popeye’s one season with Denver in 1999-00, and never looked back.
“He never really had an issue with it. I’m sure deep down, he probably wanted us to play some basketball [laughs], but it just never happened,” Caleb said of his father, who moved into coaching following an 11-year NBA career and won a championship with the Nuggets in 2021.
“He was really supportive the whole time. Obviously, him being a pro athlete, he has a lot of good advice. Obviously, a different sport, but kind of just having to work and earn your opportunity every year. I think he’s done a good job of kind of giving me that advice when I needed it.”
Popeye knows better than most how difficult it is to make it at the highest level of any sport for anyone, much less two kids from the same family. Seth was drafted in the first round (fourth overall) by Nashville in 2013, and before getting traded to the Panthers at last season’s deadline, he spent time with the Predators, Columbus and Chicago.
Caleb, drafted in the fourth round (117th overall) by Edmonton in 2015, broke into the NHL with the Oilers before joining the Blackhawks for the 2021-22 and ’22-23 seasons. There, he was teammates with Seth.
“Being able to play with him in Chicago for a couple of years and be paired together sometimes on the same defense pair, it was really cool,” Caleb said. “Looking back, it was a really special moment and something that you definitely don’t want to take for granted. We enjoyed every second of it.”