A coaching connection

Jim Montgomery was going through a tidal wave of emotions.

He had been told he’d been traded by the Philadelphia Phantoms to the Manitoba Moose for future considerations.

Not only was Montgomery on the move back in the fall of 1999, the diminutive and creative centre was changing leagues after being acquired by the Moose, who were then an independently run team in the International Hockey League.

After processing the information and travelling to meet his new team, Montgomery was called into the coach’s office for a quick meeting to get up to speed on the systems and style the Moose like to play.

The assistant coach running that meeting was none other than Scott Arniel.

“I remember how easy he was to learn from,” said Montgomery, now the head coach of the St. Louis Blues, who trail Arniel’s Winnipeg Jets 2-0 in the best-of-seven series that resumes Thursday in Missouri.

“I remember when I got to the Moose at the time, I had a five-minute chalkboard with him before my first game, because I flew in that day, and I just remember how simple he made it and how quickly I felt I could adjust to the way the Moose were playing compared to the team I came from because of his teachings.”

When the story is relayed to Arniel on Tuesday afternoon during his media session, he immediately shows his sense of humour.

“Yeah, (Montgomery) wouldn’t listen to me at all,” Arniel began. “What a terrible player. I hated coaching him. No, I’m just kidding.”

When Arniel got serious, he sang the praises of both the player and the individual.

Montgomery finished fourth in team scoring that season with the Moose, while adding 111 penalty minutes to go with his 18 goals and 46 points.

So there’s obviously a fiery side to Montgomery as well.

“Monty was obviously a big player in the east. (He) added a real good skill set to our team and experience,” said Arniel. “I do remember back (in) those days, he was real open to how we did our business and how we played.”

It’s often been said that hockey can be an extremely small world. That Montgomery is now matching wits with Arniel in this Central Division battle seems fitting. Both head coaches are known for their sharp hockey minds and ability to communicate.

“I do remember back (in) those days, he was real open to how we did our business and how we played.”–Scott Arniel on his friendship with Jim Montgomery

They also know the value of second chances, though the circumstances are vastly different for them.

Arniel waited patiently after things didn’t go well in that first spin with the Columbus Blue Jackets, with a pink slip coming after just a season-and-a-half.

The rebranding for Arniel came in many forms, including time as an associate coach with the New York Rangers, head coach of the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League and as an assistant coach under Todd Reirden and Peter Laviolette with the Washington Capitals.

Those experiences helped Arniel land back with the Jets as an associate coach under Rick Bowness after he was a finalist for the head coaching job in the summer of 2022.

When Montgomery’s playing days were over he worked his way up the coaching ranks, starting out as an assistant in the NCAA before building his resumé in the United States Hockey League, eventually landing the job with the University of Denver Pioneers program.

That’s where his stock rose to the point where he was hired by the Dallas Stars.

“(At) Denver, you saw the success he was having, you knew that he was going to be one of those guys that was moving on up pretty soon,” said Arniel. “He certainly had built his resumé.”

In his first season, Montgomery helped the Stars reach Game 7 of the second-round series with the Blues, losing a heartbreaker in double overtime when Pat Maroon supplied the clinching goal.

Just 31 games into his second season, Montgomery was fired for “unprofessional conduct inconsistent with the core values and beliefs of the Dallas Stars.”

Montgomery, who was replaced by Bowness at the time, has since shared his thoughts on how addiction was at the root of how things unravelled for him.

However, Montgomery worked hard to get his life back in order and returned to the NHL as an assistant coach with the Blues on Craig Berube’s staff in the summer of 2020.

“I know how bright of a hockey mind he is.”–Jim Montgomery on his friendship with Scott Arniel

After two years with the Blues, Montgomery was hired as bench boss of the Boston Bruins, where his second chance was upon him.

This past November, Montgomery was abruptly fired by the Bruins (despite a .715 winning percentage), but hired by the Blues and was given a five-year contract days later.

Arniel and Montgomery stayed in touch over the years and traded ideas on topics like the penalty kill.

In an interesting twist of fate, the two men were seated at the same table at the Bruce Oake Foundation dinner in Winnipeg last fall — where Montgomery was part of a fireside chat where he shared insights on recovery and the importance of having a strong support network in place.

Montgomery was still the head coach of the Bruins at the time, so the two coaches swapped stories and ideas, knowing the only way they could meet up in the playoffs would be in the Stanley Cup final.

“I don’t think my wife (Lia) liked it that we talked hockey the whole dinner. But it was good,” said Arniel. “He was in Boston, so we were trading back secrets. I guess I should have held onto a couple of those, because I wasn’t expecting him to be in St. Louis.”

Arniel was kidding once again, but the mutual admiration both men share for one another is obvious.

“We’re good friends, and respect each other a lot. Well, I know I respect him a lot. I can’t speak for him,” said Montgomery. “But I know how bright of a hockey mind he is.”

Montgomery was among the many people to reach out to Arniel after he was hired by the Jets to take over from Bowness last May.

“I told him how much better he’s going to be because of it. The first experience, you grow a lot,” said Montgomery. “And the second time you get a crack at it, like he has shown this year, you’re significantly better. You know exactly how you want everything to run.

“And then when you invest the time he did coaching with so many different coaches and really good coaches in the league, and learning from now, it just makes you better, and that’s why you see the results this year.”

As the series shifts to Enterprise Center, both Arniel and Montgomery will be looking for any edge possible in the matchup game.

While the Jets are trying to take a 3-0 stranglehold, the Blues are looking to get on the board and narrow the deficit in the series to 2-1.

The chess match portion of the program is only in the budding stages.

“That’s what it’s all about in this game. There’s going to be situations where we’re going to be trying to get our matchups and might happen on icings, it might happen on D-zone draws, O-zone draws, where you can try to do your things,” said Arniel.

“But (Montgomery) has a game plan, so do we. This is where I go back to our depth and where I go back to trusting in our four lines, trust in our D. You’re going to get caught against their elite players at times, and you know what to do. You’ve done it before. It may not be the matchup that we had in Games 1 and 2, but it’s your responsibility to make sure you do your job.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld