A Familiar Night, In Many Ways

Keith Jones returned to his customary position between the benches for TNT on Thursday night for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers. He's been everywhere in the media since being named the Flyers' president of hockey operations a week ago, but this was his first time back on the TNT crew and back in the thick of things at an NHL building on a game day.

"It was a really awesome thing to have a chance to see people in person, not just text messages and phone calls," Jones said the day after Florida took a 1-0 series lead. "It's been kind of hectic for the last week. To have a chance to reconnect, and one-on-one personal situations, was pretty awesome."

And the broadcast was business as usual, but at the same time, a little different. Longtime partners Kenny Albert and Eddie Olczyk said they were glad to have him back for the rest of the run, and occasional references of "Mr. President" and the like snuck their way into things. But that was the extent of anything different on the air from any of the other thousands of games Jones has worked.

"To me it was just like doing any other conference final game," he said. "Once I got down in my position, that was it. It was great to see a lot of people prior to the game and at the morning skate. But once it got to the game, the game was the focus."

As it turned out, it was an extremely appropriate game for Jones to return, as it turned into the sixth longest game in NHL history. It lasted until 1:54 AM when Matthew Tkachuk scored with 12.7 seconds left in the fourth overtime. Jones has now been involved in the four of the NHL's seven longest games - in addition to last night, he was on the call when Tampa Bay and Columbus went to five overtimes in the COVID bubble in 2020, and he was on the Washington roster but injured when the Capitals and Pittsburgh went to four overtimes in 1996.

And then of course, Jones played in the NHL's third-longest game, the Flyers' five-overtime win over Pittsburgh on May 4, 2000. (Yes, his zero shots came up on the telecast.) Tkachuk's goal even looked a little like Keith Primeau's game-winner 23 years ago, coming from almost the exact same spot in the right circle.

"I'm glad that I eat a lot, because I'm like a bear - I hibernate for these moments," Jones quipped on the air ahead of the fourth overtime. "So I'm feeling pretty good."

Two minutes into the fourth overtime, a puck made its way into Jones's workspace. He picked it up and tossed it to someone into the stands, who he may or may not have had to wake up first, earning what Olczyk said was "a fan for life."

"I heard it, didn't see it," Jones said. "I can't open my eyes anymore."

He offered unique viewpoints on the situation, having been the only member of the crew to play in a game like that. A lot of the same stories came up about how the Flyers players were eating anything they could get their hands on because Mellon Arena had essentially run out of food, about how some pizzas managed to show up in the locker room from somewhere that night.

As the game crossed Thursday and went well into Friday, the guys couldn't resist asking him, with it being well after 1 AM, if he now regretted staying on board.

"I came in here tonight with a sunburn," he said, "and I've lost my tan already."

But he did note that nobody on either roster was doing anything like he did in 2000 in the stories he's told about hopping on the ice, skating five feet and then coming off for a change again.

"It's a little different than our game in 2000," he said. "These guys are so well-conditioned. They're so disciplined, both teams, so well-constructed that they rely on everybody. I think that's a valuable part of why this game has been extended as long as it has. The defensive mistakes have not been happening."

Jones still has a few weeks to go with TNT after giving his two-series notice last week. He'll stay on through the conference final and then the Stanley Cup Final, which everyone involved is happy about. That includes the other guy from Jones's hometown of Brantford, Ontario who worked Game 1 and who also had a pretty good career.

I don't think there's anyone who loves hockey much more than Keith does," said Wayne Gretzky, part of TNT's studio panel for these games, the next day. "He's put so many years in as a player and a broadcaster. More importantly, he's a die-hard flyer. Other than Keith and his family, the guy who's probably smiling most is Mr. Snider. He always loved people who were in the Flyer organization being in charge of running the team. Keith knows the game, and he knows everyone in the game. He's really good at the job he did on TV - we're going to miss him because he's so good. He's going to bring a uniqueness that's nothing but good for the Flyers and the Flyers fans."

Gretzky is seven years older than Jones and left Brantford at the age of 14 to play junior hockey in Toronto, so he didn't know Jones growing up. But the rest of Gretzky's family did, and the two of them finally got to connect when Gretzky started working TNT games two years ago.

"The older you get the earlier you get up, so we were having coffee at 7:30 every morning," Gretzky said. "I just love talking hockey with him. He really talks about the good things about the game and the good things about players. He's not a negative guy and I think when you get to that role [of president], you have to have a positive outlook on things. [At TNT] he was good to every single person, from makeup to sound guys to lighting guys. If you're going to be president of a hockey club, that's how you've got to treat people. I think he's going to do a great job."

Before TNT, Gretzky worked in the leadership of the Edmonton Oilers, holding the title of vice chairman. He started in 2016, when the Oilers weren't so hot but were getting things headed in the right direction at the start of the Connor McDavid era.

"I think the biggest thing for [Jones and Danny Briere] is what people think the deals they want to make, those are the hardest deals to make," Gretzky said. "It's easy for fans and die-hards to say 'we need to get this guy, we've got to trade that guy.' But it's such a business now that there has to be a fit when you make deals with each and every team. The players that people want are the players teams don't want to trade. That's always the case in every sport. Just got to be patient. I know they've brought in some good young talent there and there's a good team that's growing. [Eventually they'll] add the right free agents to make your team better and Keith has a good handle on that. He knows the games and he knows the players. He's' watched so many games and he's got the best seat in the house."

That seat was in the middle of everything on Thursday night, at ice level of a PNC Arena that was shaking at the rafters as the TNT broadcast opened, shortly after which Albert and Olczyk tossed it to ice level ahead of the national anthem.

"This building is absolutely rocking," Jones said to open the proceedings. "I'm excited to be here. This is the best time of the year."

Before too long, Jones's sole focus will be on returning that atmosphere to Philadelphia. That is the goal, and it's bound to be a fun ride.