Scott Arniel

Did You Know?

• Arniel was inducted into the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame on May 2, 2008.
• He has a nephew, Jamie Arniel, who was drafted by the Boston Bruins and played one game for the team during the 2010–11 NHL season.
• Arniel and his wife Lia have two children and make their home in Winnipeg during the off-season.

Playing career

Arniel began his major junior career with the Kingston Canadians of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League in 1978–79, then moved to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League the next season to join the Cornwall Royals. He played a key role in the Royals' 1981 Memorial Cup championship, scoring a hat trick in an 8–2 win over the Kitchener Rangers on May 10, 1981. Selected by the Winnipeg Jets 22nd overall in the 1981 NHL entry draft, he made his NHL debut in 1981–82 with 17 games but was returned to junior with the Royals, now in the Ontario Hockey League. That reassignment allowed him to play at the 1982 World Junior Championships, helping Canada win its first gold medal at the tournament. He joined the Jets full-time in 1982–83, recording 18 points as a rookie, and had a career-high 56-point season in 1983–84. After five seasons with the Jets, he moved to the Buffalo Sabres in 1986–87 for four seasons, then returned to the Jets in 1990–91. He split 1991–92 between the Boston Bruins and AHL affiliates, then spent the rest of his career in the minor leagues with the San Diego Gulls, Houston Aeros, Utah Grizzlies, and Manitoba Moose of the IHL, retiring after 1998–99.

Coaching career

Arniel got his start in coaching in 1995 as an assistant with the Houston Aeros while he was still playing for them. He retired as a player in 1999 and then spent three seasons as an assistant coach for the Manitoba Moose. In 2002, he moved to the NHL as an assistant with the Buffalo Sabres. After four years there, the Vancouver Canucks, the Moose’s parent club, brought him back to Manitoba as head coach. In 2008–09, he guided the Moose to the best regular-season record in the league and a trip to the Calder Cup finals, winning the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as coach of the year. In 2010, the Columbus Blue Jackets hired him as head coach, taking over for interim Claude Noël. Arniel was fired in January 2012 after just a season and a half. That June, the Canucks rehired him to coach their new AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. In the summer of 2013, he followed Alain Vigneault to the New York Rangers. He was let go on April 7, 2018, along with Vigneault and assistant Darryl Williams. Later that year, on August 6, the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals hired him as an assistant to replace Lane Lambert. On May 24, 2024, Arniel became head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, succeeding Rick Bowness. His first season, 2024–25, was the best in franchise history: a 56–22–4 record, the Presidents’ Trophy, and a nomination for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach.