Islanders Kyle MacLean misses late ex-coach: always in my corner

In the middle of last March, when the Islanders faced the Senators, Kyle MacLean went looking for Bob Jones.It had been a while since MacLean had talked with his old coach from juniors — they’d texted on occasion, but that was about it — and MacLean, who’d gone undrafted during his time with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals, was now with the Islanders and having some success.This would’ve been a nice moment to share in it and reminisce with Jones, an assistant coach with the Senators.But MacLean couldn’t talk with Jones, who died in August of ALS at age 54.

Though he’d remained on Ottawa’s staff after being diagnosed with the disease in December 2022, Jones scaled back his role during the past few months of last season.MacLean didn’t get the chance to see him that night.“I wish I did keep in touch with him more,” MacLean told The Post before the Islanders’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Devils at UBS Arena.

“Text here, phone call here and there.Jonesy, he was a good coach.”Thursday night’s match in Ottawa was MacLean’s first time there as an NHLer, and naturally, the man who coached him as a young junior player popped into his head.“Taught me a lot about developing my game,” MacLean said.

“Helped me to figure out how to play defensively, PK, things like that.“When you’re young it’s good to have [someone] — I felt like he was always in my corner, too.And he was always looking out for me to help my career.” Sign up for Inside the Islanders by Ethan Sears, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.

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Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! Though Jones had some health issues unrelated to ALS that kept him away from the team for parts of MacLean’s third season, the two overlapped from 2015-18 in Oshawa — a span over which MacLean went from a 16-year-old fightin...