During the offseason, Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson, after being informed that his leading head coaching candidate, Guy Boucher, turned down his offer to coach the Blue Jackets (Boucher took the Tampa Bay Lightning head coaching position, instead) offered the position to Scott Arniel, previously an assistant to Lindy Ruff with the Buffalo Sabres and the head coach of the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Many in Columbus viewed the offer rejection as a snub and a slap in the face to the state of the organization and perception of Columbus in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Further, it was believed that Arniel might have been a case of settling for second best.
Well, although at only 19 games into the season and while Boucher is doing a fine job in coaching the Lightning, it's looking more and more like the Arniel selection was the right choice, after all.
The Blue Jackets have one of the best records in the NHL at 13-6-0 and they have done so in historical fashion, having recently pulled their first ever West Coast sweep of three of the better teams in the Western Conference, the ...
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Article written by Ed Cmar
Columbus Blue Jackets: Assessing Head Coach Scott Arniel
November 24th, 2010 by Ed Cmar Leave a reply »
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