Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said the team wasn't looking to reinvent itself when promoting Scott Arniel to head coach. Is the status quo good enough come playoffs?

For those aware of how the Winnipeg Jets operate, the fact they named Scott Arniel as their coach was hardly a surprise.

Arniel, the team's associate coach over the last two years, was destined to replace Rick Bowness. Winnipeg's team is fearlessly loyal — arguably to a fault — and Arniel’s ties run deep.

As a player, Arniel spent six seasons with the Winnipeg Jets 1.0 and another three with the now-defunct International League's Manitoba Moose. After being a player and assistant coach with the Houston Aeros in 1995-96, he started coaching full-time with the Moose in 1999-2000, first as an assistant in the IHL and then as an AHL head coach. He’s one of several Moose 1.0 alumni — alongside Mike Keane, Jimmy Roy and Nolan Baumgartner — who works in the Jets hockey ops.

It was Arniel’s job to lose all along.

Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff told reporters at Arniel’s introductory press conference that the organization only formally interviewed three candidates. Arniel’s was the only interview conducted in person. The other two were done via video call.

“It wasn’t like we were looking to reinvent this team,” Cheveldayoff said.

In other words, the Jets were fine to stick with the status quo.

“If the status quo of 52 wins is there, I'll be pretty darn happy,” Cheveldayoff said.

Granted, 52 wins means squat if you get bounced in the first round. 

There are many positives from Bowness’ two-year tenure coaching the Jets, including reviving the team's culture when it was sorely needed. The positives also only go so far.

Over the last two years, the Jets paired a ninth-ranked regular-season points percentage (.625) with a 2-8 playoff record. And in the six years since the team's 2018 Western Conference final run, Winnipeg has only advanced past the first round once.

For a team like the Jets, which not only have Stanley Cup aspirations but are reeling from their once iron-clad season ticket base dwindling — that can’t be the standard. The Jets need to go from being a good regular-season team to a competitive playoff team. That's no small feat.

So, why Arniel? It’s a gamble, to be sure, especially given his limited NHL head coaching experience.

Before spending the last 11 years as an associate and assistant for the New York Rangers, Washington Capitals and Jets, Arniel coached the Columbus Blue Jackets for a year-and-a-half, posting a 45-60-18 record. Arniel wasn’t shy about calling players out publicly, and in recent weeks, Mike Commodore — a resident in Arniel’s doghouse back then — took to X to blast Arniel.

Arniel was candid in reflecting on his Columbus tenure, saying he could’ve handled situations with players a lot better back then and done more teaching and less barking.

“The player today is so much different than what it was even five years ago, let alone 12 years ago,” Arniel said. “That’s all part of it. The relationship part of it is the single biggest thing. If they don’t believe in me and they don’t think I believe in them, we’re not off to a very good start.”

Now, let’s be clear: coaches can grow from failure. By all accounts, Arniel and Cheveldayoff credited Arniel’s vulnerability in reflecting on what went wrong in Columbus during his interview with the Jets. 

But the real sticking point of Arniel’s resume is that in the decade-plus span since his time with the Blue Jackets, he’s only spent one season running his bench, and it was with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves in 2012-13. They missed the playoffs. 

Sure, he filled in amicably over these past two years when Bowness dealt with various ailments and family matters, but being an interim coach for a month or a few games here or there is a different animal than being the head honcho for an 82-game season.

The Jets are gambling on an Arniel redemption tour after building on the momentum of their electric atmosphere and attendance during the playoffs.

After years of consistent sellouts, clusters of empty seats happened more often at Canada Life Centre this past regular season.

Jets governor Mark Chipman told The Athletic’s Chris Johnston in late February that the team's season ticket base had fallen by 27 percent to 9,500 from 13,000.

Chipman made a point to say that True North Sports and Entertainment was dedicated to listening to feedback from fans. The day after Arniel’s promotion was announced, The Athletic’s Jets beat reporter, Murat Ates, revealed that 77 percent of respondents to a survey voted for the Jets to make an outside hire for their coach, with the other 23 percent being in favor of hiring Arniel.

Perhaps the Jets will prove 77 percent of those respondents wrong by promoting Arniel, because it will pay huge dividends if the team succeeds and goes further in the playoffs. The direction and success are crucial to reviving attendance levels. And while there's every intention for the Jets to stay in Winnipeg for a long time coming, there's little margin for error on the ice if they want to get those sold-out crowds all season long again.