Scott Arniel, who played for the franchise’s previous incarnation in the 1980s, was named the new head coach of the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.
Although the Jets interviewed other candidates for their opening, it was widely speculated that Arniel would ultimately get the job thanks to his ties to the franchise and city as well as his previous head coaching experience.
Arniel, 61, was the Jets’ associate coach for the past two seasons under Rick Bowness, who retired after the season. Arniel served as interim head coach of the Jets during three absences from Bowness due to family and health reasons. Arniel is 15-7-3 in this interim role over those 25 games in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
He was head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2010 to 2012, being replaced mid-season by Todd Richards during the 2011-12 season. Columbus finished outside the playoffs in Arniel’s two years behind the bench.
Arniel served as an assistant coach with the Buffalo Sabers (2002-06), New York Rangers (2013-18) and Washington Capitals (2018-22) in the NHL. He was head coach of the Manitoba Moose of the AHL from 2006 to 2010.
Drafted by the previous incarnation of the Jets in 1981, Arniel played six seasons as a forward in Winnipeg. In total, he played 730 games in the NHL with the Jets, Sabers and Boston Bruins.
Winnipeg finished second in the Central Division with 110 points this season, earning Bowness a nomination for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach. But the Jets lost in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to the Colorado Avalanche in five games.
“I think they’ve done a great job,” general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said of his coaching staff. “We put in a structure that showed we could win with it. There was a level of consistency over a long period of time.”
The Jets’ hiring means there are two coaching vacancies left in the NHL: the San Jose Sharks and the Seattle Kraken.
News Source : www.espn.com
Gn sports
