Most of the 44 players at USA Hockey’s recent Olympic orientation camp hope to make their Olympic debut in 2026, but Seth Jones’ journey to Milan would be unique among that group.
Jones, a 30-year-old Florida Panthers defenseman, is the only potential Olympic rookie who both attended the last Olympic orientation camp in 2013 and was actually named to the 2022 Olympic team before the NHL withdrew six weeks before the Games.
“It was a stab in the heart when they said NHL players weren’t going, right, because that’s kind of like everyone’s dream,” he said.
It appeared Jones realized that dream in October 2021 when he was one of the first three players named to the 2022 U.S. Olympic team.
He was the lone defenseman picked, joining forwards Patrick Kane (an Olympian in 2010 and 2014) and Auston Matthews (who has already been named to the 2026 Olympic team as one of the first six).
On Dec. 22, 2021, the NHL withdrew from the Beijing Games due to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting its season. Kane, Matthews and Jones — and 22 NHL players yet to be named — were replaced by collegians, minor leaguers and those playing for European clubs.
Jones has since seen the U.S. defenseman landscape change significantly. That was apparent as he watched last February’s 4 Nations Face-Off final from home.
Jones, the top defenseman in the eyes of USA Hockey in fall 2021, wasn’t one of the seven defensemen picked in fall 2024 for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“You want to be there playing,” he said of watching Canada’s 3-2 overtime win over the U.S. “It was that intense. It was that competitive. I think every player that was American or Canadian wants that opportunity to play in that situation.”
Four months later, Jones lifted the Stanley Cup for the first time — 24 years after attending Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final won by his hometown Colorado Avalanche.
In an oft-told story, Jones’ ice path accelerated when his dad, then-Denver Nuggets forward Popeye Jones, asked Avs Hall of Famer Joe Sakic for hockey tips for his sons.
Sakic stressed skating skills. So Jones was taught to skate by a former figure skater.
In Jones’ bonus room in his Dallas area home, he has hockey sticks signed by Avs Cup winners Ray Bourque and Patrick Roy, plus game-worn signed basketball shoes from Dirk Nowitzki, a former teammate of his dad.
“I was trying to beg my dad for a pair of (his) Michael Jordan signed shoes,” Jones…