May 27, 2024, 06:28 pm Eastern Time
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Scott Arniel believes overcoming the lowest point of his career will help him achieve greater aspirations with the Winnipeg Jets.
Arniel was named the Jets’ new head coach on Friday, 12 years after his only other stint as a head coach ended with his firing by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“One of the darkest moments for me as a coach, probably in hockey, was when I got fired in Columbus,” Arniel said at a news conference at Canada Life Center on Monday. “I had never been through that. It took me a long time to get over it.
“Whether it was anger or doubt. Whatever it was, it took a while. You can ask my wife, you can ask my kids, even some of my friends. I was a grumpy person.”
Arniel, 61, did not know if that day would happen again.
“I’ve been sitting here for 12 years wondering, always wondering, ‘Will I ever get a second chance?'” he said. “And I’ll tell you what, there are some great coaches in our league right now who got a second chance and a third chance, who are having great success, and I like to think I’ve learned a lot over these last few years. That suits me. to help move forward.”
Arniel, who had been an associate coach in Winnipeg for the past two seasons, takes the reins after Rick Bowness retired.
He has come full circle since being drafted in the second round by the Jets in 1981, playing for the team for five years before being traded and then returning.
Bowness and Arniel had led the Jets to a franchise-record 52 wins and won the Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed last season. But after going 52-24-6, the Jets were eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second straight year.
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Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff believed Arniel had a good enough handle on the team to hire him after interviewing only two other candidates.
“He’s sitting here today because he earned this opportunity,” said Cheveldayoff, who liked the way Arniel communicated with players and handled the team under pressure. “The reality is that you are going to build on something that has already been laid.”
Arniel, who posted a 45-60-18 record over a year and a half with the Blue Jackets, admitted he was pretty green when he was hired by Columbus, but has since learned from his mistakes. He is 15-7-3 through three periods when he was pressed to work when Bowness was out.
“It helped me gain confidence in myself and what I can do as a coach,” Arniel said. “In my coaching career, this is the most important personal chapter in becoming the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets.”
The Jets parted ways with assistant coach Brad Lauer, but will retain assistant coach Marty Johnston and goaltending coach Wade Flaherty. Arniel began interviewing assistant coach candidates on Monday.
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