Portland Winterhawks star defenceman Seth Jones (The Canadian Press)In short, it's likely that Seth Jones will make his NHL debut exactly where it all began. Seth Jones was five when his father Ronald "Popeye" Jones, then with the Denver Nuggets, was approached by Colorado Avalanche star Joe Sakic about starting off in ice hockey.

Popeye would take Seth and his brothers to the occasional Avalanche game – the Avs were in their glory days circa 1999-2001 – and Seth became intoxicated with the speed and power of NHL hockey.

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“It was just the intensity,” he said Wednesday from Portland as the Winterhawks prepared for their Friday date in Vancouver against the Giants. “We lived in Colorado for eight years so I went to a bunch of Avalanche games and I was there in 2001 when they beat New Jersey to win the Stanley Cup. We had rinkside seats and I saw them hoist the Cup and that game made me want to pursue my dream of hoisting a Stanley Cup one day. That's kind of where my motivation started.” [Vancouver Sun]

Sakic got the young Jones into hockey, and on Monday night, the Colorado Avalanche won the NHL Draft Lottery moving up from second spot to first. They'll have the right to take the first-time-eligible, and top-ranked prospect, Seth Jones on June 30 in New Jersey.