For Arniel, New York remains starting point in long road back to head coaching job

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This article was published 12/11/2024 (332 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK — Scott Arniel was standing at the epicentre of his long road back.

As a large throng of media members were peppering the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets about their historic start, Arniel was also asked a series of questions about the five seasons he spent behind the New York Rangers bench as an associate coach on Alain Vigneault’s staff.

“For me, it was the real start of the reset for me after coaching in Columbus,” said Arniel, referencing his first shot at an NHL head coaching job with the Blue Jackets from 2010 to 2012. “I got to come in here with (Vigneault) and some great coaches. Great organization.

“I had never coached for an Original Six franchise and to come in here and see how the Rangers do things and how they went about their business on and off the ice.”

Arniel coached a number of high-end players during his tenure, including Henrik Lundqvist, Marty St. Louis, Brad Richards, Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi, among others.

The Rangers advanced to the Stanley Cup final before losing in five games to the Los Angeles Kings in 2014, then made it back to the Eastern Conference final the following spring before being eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in a seven-game slugfest.

“We had a chance to go to the Stanley Cup,” said Arniel. “Obviously, we didn’t win it. But the opportunity to be in the Eastern Conference and see the rivalries that are out here, it was a great learning curve for me. I got to work under some good people that springboarded me forward to where I am today.”

It also gave Arniel the experience of being on the home team inside Madison Square Garden.

“It’s the most famous arena in the world. It’s unbelievable,” said Arniel. “It’s a different atmosphere when you’re in these buildings. This building can get crazy loud. At the same time, they’re honest fans. They let you know when you’re going good, they also let you know when you’re not going so good.

“It’s a fun place to play and it’s a fun place to have success.”

Jets defenceman Neal Pionk, who was acquired in a trade with the Rangers, was also reminiscing about playing at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday morning.

“It’s always special coming to MSG, whether you played here or not,” said Pionk. “It’s where I got started and I have a lot of good memories here. I scored my first (NHL) goal here, I played my first (NHL) game here.”

That memorable goal came against Buffalo Sabres netminder Robin Lehner on March 24 of 2018.

“It was a three-on-two rush and Jimmy Vesey hit me with a backdoor pass,” said Pionk.

STANLEY INJURED: After suiting up in 11 consecutive games, Jets defenceman Logan Stanley has been sidelined with a “mid-body” injury and has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Nov. 9.

Stanley has one goal, three points and 13 penalty minutes this season while averaging 15:13 of ice time per game and playing on the third pairing with Colin Miller.

Arniel said Stanley remained in Winnipeg and will be re-evaluated when the Jets return home from their current three-game road swing.

“He’s been dealing with something for the last probably week-and-a-half or two weeks,” said Arniel, noting the injury was not related to the knee issue that kept him out of the bulk of training camp. “We just felt it was time to shut it down. He was playing in a lot of pain.”

The Jets did get some good news on the injury front on Tuesday as fellow blue-liner Ville Heinola has been cleared for contact and shed the non-contact jersey for the first time since Day 1 of training camp.

After dealing with an ankle issue, Heinola needs to work on getting his conditioning back up and into more game situations before he’s an option for game action.

There is still no timetable for his return.

“We’ll see. I’m not going to rush it here,” said Arniel. “We want him to be around for the rest of the year.”

Arniel said a conditioning stint with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League has not yet been discussed.

However, given the amount of time Heinola has already missed this season, getting in some game reps in the minors would make a lot of sense.

KAHKONEN CLAIMED: The Jets added to their organizational depth on Tuesday afternoon, claiming goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen off waivers from the Colorado Avalanche.

Kahkonen was signed to a one-year deal by the Jets on July 1 and he competed for the backup job with Eric Comrie before he was placed on waivers on Oct. 11.

When the Avalanche got off to a rocky start, Kahkonen was claimed on Oct. 12, but he only appeared in one game with them and two more with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles during a conditioning stint.

With Alexandar Georgiev playing better since his return to action and Justus Annunen stabilizing things in the No. 2 role, Kahkonen was once again the odd-man out and placed on waivers.

Since the Jets were the only team to put in a claim, they were able to assign him directly to the Moose.

Kahkonen will help provide some valuable experience with the Moose, whose crease is being tended by second-year pro Thomas Milic and rookie Dom DiVincentiis.

Originally chosen in the fourth round (109th overall) of the 2014 NHL Draft by the Minnesota Wild, Kahkonen has 140 NHL games on his resume and is someone the Jets believe in, so bringing him back was a logical decision.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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