Terry Jones celebrated his 1,000th Kootenay International Hockey League win on Friday in Revelstoke, as the Beaver Valley Nitehawks defeated the Revelstoke Grizzlies 5-3.
The milestone victory is unprecedented in the KIJHL and Jr. B hockey anywhere in North America. The 52-year-old Jones began his 23rd season behind the Hawks bench and since his start in 1996 has built a history of winning, leading the Nitehawks to eight KIJHL championships, four Cyclone Taylor Cups, and one Keystone Cup.
Twitter lit up with congratulatory notes to Jones, aka @Teeray8, in recognition of the achievement.
Former co-coach of the Nitehawks Paul Matteucci (@tooch_18) wrote: “if it was easy, everyone would be doing it”… congrats to you and Loretta. You’ll say it’s not about the wins… but losing sucks. Some of the best days of my life…@BVNitehawks.”
Hawks forward Damon Kramer posted a photo of him and his brother, Tallon, with Terry holding the Cyclone Taylor Cup, writing, “Congratulations to a fantastic coach and a great man! Grateful to have been a part of the journey! To 1000 more!”
From former Nitehawk, Michael Pruss: “Congratulations to @Teeray8 on 1,000 wins. A man who has molded me as a person and a hockey player #winnerswin.”
And the KIJHL sent this: “Congratulations to @BVNitehawks Terry Jones on his 1000th win! Here are some of his other accomplishments in the past 23 years:
KIJHL Champions: 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2012, 2014, 2017
Cyclone Taylor Cup: 1997, 2001, 2014, 2017
Keystone Cup: 2014”
The Tweets continue to roll in, from former players, coaches, parents, opposing teams and anyone who has had the good fortune of knowing the Trail native.
The milestone victory may come as more of a relief than a celebration for the Nitehawks coach, as B.V. struggled of late, and lost three-goal leads in three of their last four games. But on Friday, the Hawks turned it around.
Down 3-2 with 15 minutes left in the third period, Ryan Crisalli scored on a power play to tie it at 8:47 and Brad Ross netted the winner less than 30 seconds later. Michael Hagen iced it on an unassisted effort with 1:17 to play.
The Nitehawks also beat Chase 3-2 on Saturday for Jones’ start on the next 1,000.