Caleb Jones spent three seasons trying to establish himself as an NHL player, then three more as a full-time guy in the league with no more AHL bus rides or shuttling back and forth between two teams.
Then he had to start this season back in the AHL with the Colorado Eagles, first as a member of the Hurricanes and then with the Avalanche because Carolina doesn’t have its own affiliate. So when Jones joined the Avs and played well in his first couple of games, he had to feel pretty good about life in general.
Trying to fit in with a new team and play well enough to stick around is hard enough, but the hockey gods gave Jones a little extra bit of adversity to deal with last week at an Avalanche practice … and he is currently sporting a rather robust black eye as a reminder.