Art Jones - Hockey

Art Jones will forever be loved by Portland hockey fans for his integral role with the Portland Buckaroos of the Western Hockey League.

Jones grew up in Saskatchewan and reached the WHL as a 22-year-old center with the New Westminster Royals in 1957. In reaching the Royals, he began a stretch of 17 straight seasons in which he played 60 or more games.

After two solid seasons with the Royals and another with the Victoria Cougars, Jones signed with the expansion Buckaroos for the 1960-61 season and played in Portland until the team disbanded in 1974. With Jones as a scoring power, the Buckaroos won the league title: the Lester Patrick Cup, in their expansion season and also in 1965, and ‘71. Jones, who stood 5-foot-10, led the league in scoring six times and was named league MVP in 1968 and ’71. In 1970-71, he scored a league record 127 points on 43 goals and 84 assists.

After the Buckaroos folded in ’74, Jones played sparingly with other teams for three more seasons before retiring in 1976 at age 40.

In 17 seasons of WHL action, Jones in credited with having scored 578 goals, with 1,002 assists and 1,580 total points.

Following his playing career, Jones remained in Portland. He was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1984.