Nick Jones

Classroom

Nick has a 3.6 cumulative GPA in biology. He has been a member of the Atlantic Hockey Association’s All-Academic Team in each of his first three seasons and has also been a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference’s (PSAC) All-Academic Team in each of his first three seasons. The PSAC serves as Mercyhurst’s host conference, as the Lakers have most of the athletic teams in that conference. Jones was inducted into the Phi Eta Sigma Chapter at Mercyhurst for attaining at least a 3.5 GPA after his freshman year. Outside of hockey, Nick would like to pursue a career in the medical field upon graduation.

Character

Jones is the team captain this season and has been a two-year captain for the Lakers after also serving as a junior. He is one of only three players in the history of the Mercyhurst program in the Division I era (began in 1999-2000) that has been a two-time captain. According to Mercyhurst Head Coach Rick Gotkin - “Nick is an unbelieveable kid and is by far one of the most complete all-around individuals I’ve ever had the privilege of coaching in my 26 years at Mercyhurst. He is our unsung hero - he is the first one to practice and the last one to leave practice. He leads by example both on and off the ice - I never have to worry about him going to class or getting into trouble. He is a role model to everyone that has come into contact with him. He is a true professional despite still being in college and he is the consummate student-athlete.”

Community

While maintaining a 3.6 GPA in biology and being one of the major pieces on the ice for the Lakers, Jones donates a lot of time to local community charities and charitable causes. He has volunteered his time at the Erie-area Soup Kitchen - feeding those that are less fortunate. He spends a lot of time reading to school kids at local elementary schools. He assists during the season, and out-of-season, helping kids learn the game of hockey - he donates his time to the Erie Youth Hockey Association and then volunteers over the summer at numerous camps in his hometown of Pittsburgh. He also assists with a local group - The Gliding Stars Organization. The Gliding Stars is a local organization in which children, and adults, with mental or physical disabilities can spend time on the ice learning to skate or being assisted on the ice with the use of proper equipment. The group skates every Monday during the season at the Mercyhurst Ice Center and Nick helps when he can at their “practices” and then joins with his teammates to do an on-ice skit with the kids at their annual year-end show. He has also been a leader in getting donations for the Second Harvest Food Bank, Movember for prostate cancer awareness, and for the Teddy Bear Toss to help kids that are less fortunate have a better Christmas by getting stuffed aniamls thrown onto the ice at a selected game.

Competition

Jones has been a mainstay on the Laker blueline since his freshman season. He was a Third Team All-Atlantic Hockey Association selection as a sophomore and was a First Team All-Atlantic Hockey Association selection as a junior last season. As a sophomore, Jones finished tied for third in the conference in points by a defenseman with 24 points. His ten goals as a sophomore was the most by a Laker defenseman since the 2005-06 season and marked the third-highest total by a defenseman in the Division I era at Mercyhurst. Last season, Jones finished third in the conference, and 14th nationally, with a career-high 26 points, including a career-high 19 assists. He led the Lakers with a +16 plus/minus rating a year ago. For the past two seasons, Jones has been named the team’s Best Defenseman at the team’s annual postseason banquet. This season, he was selected as a preseason All-Atlantic Hockey Association First Team selection by the AHA coaches and by writers of USCHO.com. Jones is currently tied for fourth on the team with six goals and 16 assists for 22 points - his third consecutive 20-plus-point season from the blueline, helping Mercyhurst to a 14-10-4 overall record and a 12-2-3 record in the Atlantic Hockey Association - good for first place in the league. He ranks 11th in the country in points per game by a defenseman (0.79) and he ranks fourth overall in the country in points by a defenseman with 22. Two of his six goals this season have come on the power play, giving him 15 career power play tallies. Entering the final month of the regular season, Jones has 28 goals and 54 assists for 82 points. He needs 18 points to become just the second defenseman in program history at the Division I level to reach 100 career points. He has missed only three games in his career, and all three of those came during his freshman campaign and has now played in 112 consecutive contests.