WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Scott Arniel believes overcoming the lowest point in his career will help him reach higher aspirations with the Winnipeg Jets.
Arniel was named the new head coach of the Jets on Friday, 12 years after his only other time as a head coach ended with him being fired by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“One of the darkest times for me in coaching — probably in hockey — was when I got fired in Columbus,” Arniel said at a media availability at Canada Life Centre on Monday. “I had never been through it. It took a long time to get over it.
“Whether it was anger or it was 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 this day would ever come again.
“I’ve been sitting here for 12 years wondering, always wondering, ‘Am I ever going to get a second chance?'” he said. “And I’ll tell you what, there’s some great coaches in our league right now that 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 past few years that are going to help me move forward.”
Arniel, who had been the associate coach in Winnipeg over the past two seasons, takes over 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, then returning.
Bowness and Arniel had led the Jets to a franchise-tying record 52 wins while earning the Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed last season. But, after going 52-24-6, the Jets bowed out in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second straight year.
Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff believed that 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’s earned this opportunity,” Cheveldayoff, who liked the way Arniel communicated with the players and handled the team under duress, said. “The reality is, you’re going to build upon something that the foundation has been laid.”
Arniel, who posted a 45-60-18 record over a year and a half with the Blue Jackets, admitted that he was pretty green when he was hired by Columbus, but has since learned from his mistakes. He has a 15-7-3 record over three stints when he was pressed into duty when Bowness was out.
“It helped me to build confidence in myself and what I can do as a coach,” Arniel said. “In my coaching career, this is the greatest personal chapter to become the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets.”
The Jets have parted ways with assistant coach Brad Lauer, but will keep assistant coach Marty Johnston and goalie coach Wade Flaherty. Arniel started to interview assistant coach candidates on Monday.
The Ottawa Senators have opened up a nice gap as the first wild card, with 75 points and 26 regulation wins in 65 games. Beyond them, things get interesting.
If it comes down to the regulation-wins tiebreaker at season’s end, the Rangers have an upper hand over all the rest, with 29 in that column, compared with 23 for the Jackets, Red Wings and Bruins, and just 22 for the Habs.
The Canadiens host the Panthers also at 7 p.m. (NHL Network)
The Blue Jackets face the visiting Rangers also at 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
And if they have their sights set on catching the Senators, these clubs are all rooting for the Maple Leafs, who host Ottawa (7 p.m., ESPN+). It’s a great night for multiple streaming devices!
There is a lot of runway left until April 17, the final day of the regular season, and we’ll help you track it all with the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide details on all the playoff races, along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Points: 62 Regulation wins: 23 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 15 Points pace: 75.9 Next game: vs. WPG (Sunday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 22
Points: 45 Regulation wins: 13 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 15 Points pace: 55.1 Next game: vs. WSH (Saturday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 5
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process are here. Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters, is No. 1 on the draft board.
The Texas Rangers‘ pitching staff took another hit Friday, when right-hander Jon Gray suffered a right wrist fracture.
Gray was struck by a line drive from Colorado Rockies first baseman Michael Toglia to lead off the fourth inning that knocked him out of the game.
“Not good news, not good news,” manager Bruce Bochy told reporters. “It’s terrible. I feel awful for him, to be this close to getting the season going. It’s just not good news. I’ll get back in there and find out more, but right now, there is a fracture.”
Gray’s injury is the third setback for the Rangers rotation this week. The team said Thursday that left-hander Cody Bradford would start the season on the injured list because of soreness in his throwing elbow. Tyler Mahle had been scratched from a start with forearm soreness, but the right-hander returned to pitch in a minor league game Thursday.
Gray went 5-6 with a 4.47 ERA in 23 appearances (19 starts) for the Rangers last season, when he was shut down in September for a foot injury that required surgery. He is in the final year of a four-year, $56 million deal.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
TOKYO — Japanese star Shohei Ohtani showed off some prodigious power in his return to the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night.
In an exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants, the three-time Most Valuable Player belted a long two-run homer to right field in the third inning to give the Dodgers a 4-0 lead, setting off a roar from the roughly 42,000 fans in attendance.
The Dodgers put on quite a power display in the third with Michael Conforto, Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández all going deep to give Los Angeles a 5-0 advantage.
The Dodgers are playing in Japan as part of the Tokyo Series. The team is playing two exhibition games against Japanese teams before starting the regular season with two games against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to have at least 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in one season in 2024. He played several seasons for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan before coming to the U.S. in 2018 with the Los Angeles Angels.