Arniel enjoying ‘smooth transition’ as Jets coach

EDMONTON -- Scott Arniel has transitioned nicely as coach of the Winnipeg Jets.

Arniel was promoted to replace Rick Bowness on May 24 after he was Winnipeg’s associate coach for two seasons. Bowness, 69, retired shortly after the Jets were eliminated in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference First Round by the Colorado Avalanche in five games. Bowness coached Winnipeg for two seasons and worked in the NHL for 38 seasons.

“I’m starting to bring my own ideas and thoughts in,” Arniel said Sunday. “We’ve been building something here for the last couple of years and I’m able to continue to move forward with that. ‘Bones’ was great for me in the sense that he gave me a lot of responsibility the last couple of years, so the transition and all that has been pretty smooth.”

Arniel stepped in on three occasions over those two seasons for Bowness, who had to take leave for health and family reasons. The Jets went 15-7-3 over that time, including 10-5-2 last season when Bowness had to leave after his wife, Judy, suffered a seizure and was hospitalized.

Winnipeg finished second in the Central Division last season (52-24-6).

“I got to be able to coach when Rick was away, which was unfortunate, but I got to be behind the bench, so the players know me,” said Arniel, who turned 62 on Sept. 17. “So, I [have] a relationship, so it’s not like I’m coming into an organization where I don’t know anybody.”

Arniel has worked as an assistant in the NHL since joining the Buffalo Sabres in 2002. He was hired as coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2010 and had a 34-35-13 record in his first season and was fired after 41 games of his second season after going 11-25-5.

Since then, Arniel has worked in the Vancouver Canucks organization as their American Hockey League coach in Chicago, and as an assistant with the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals.

“With Bones retiring, it was a great, natural progression for ‘Arnie,’” Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said this summer. “Having said that, he had to earn that right and went through a different kind of interview process that we did with Bones, but we went through an interview process. Arnie had the lead because of all the relationships he had built, so we’re excited about that.”

As a Jets associate, Arniel was often the go-between for players and Bowness. He is comfortable now as coach and will have assistants Marty Johnston, Davis Payne, Dean Chynoweth and Wade Flaherty to lean on.

“Scotty is a lot younger than Bones, and I think he probably learned a lot from Bones over the last few years,” Jets forward Nino Niederreiter said at the NHL European Players Media Tour in Prague, Czechia. “He knows the team very well, when Bones had to leave for a little bit, he took over and I think he did a very good job with it.”

Expectations will be high for Arniel and the Jets this season. They will be looking to build on a strong 2023-24 regular season, when Winnipeg briefly held first place in the NHL standings for the first time in franchise history.

“It’s a tough league and you have to eliminate eight teams in the West, and that’s a tough task every year -- it doesn’t matter what team you are,” Arniel said. “Our division has gotten stronger, there are teams that have certainly made some big improvements, so you have to put the work in. What we did last year, our 82 games [were] pretty rewarding, we didn’t like what happened in the playoffs, but we bought in to how we had to play especially without the puck and the last two years we’ve really improved our defending.

“We have a great goalie (Connor Hellebuyck) that’s helped us, and we have a great group that’s played together for a while and now we have some young guys that will step in and probably a be a part of that mix. We have to make sure we do all the right things early on in the year to make sure we get off to a good start.”

The Jets lost their first two preseason games, 5-2 against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday and 3-2 in overtime at the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. Arniel used a young, inexperienced lineup in each but will begin utilizing his veterans as the preseason continues, perhaps as early as Wednesday against the Oilers at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg (8 p.m. ET).

“It’s been awesome, I know the guys love him,” Jets forward Dominic Toninato said. “He stepped in last year for a bit and did heck of a job. We kind of knew what to expect with that. The guys love him, and it should be a good year.

“It’s been a smooth transition. I think he’s been doing a great job so far, and we’re only going to continue to keep building and hope we have a great season.”