Most hockey players are loathe to talk about themselves and that sentiment often continues when they get into coaching. So we enlisted current UND Fighting Hawks head coach Brad Berry this past Saturday on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show to provide us with insight into new Jets head coach Scott Arniel who was his former teammate and colleague on the bench.
Berry and Arniel played together on the Jets 1.0 during the 1985-86 season and then Berry joined Arniel’s staff as an assistant first with the Manitoba Moose of the AHL in 2006-07 and then when Scott made the jump to the NHL with Columbus in 2010-11 and 2011-12. Berry has spent the last 12 years (nine as head coach) of one of the most storied college hockey teams in the United States just down the road in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Topics:
1) When the news came out that Arniel was named head coach, what was his reaction?
2) Looking back at the time with the Blue Jackets, what did they learn? (1:36)
3) Importance of a coach having knowledge of the AHL (4:32)
4) Evolving as a coach (6:01)
5) How much stock can be put in Arniel’s time as bench boss when Rick Bowness was away? (8:08)
6) The players embracing Scott Arniel in the end of season media, importance of continuity (10:13)
7) Transitioning from an assistant/associate coach to the head coach (11:48)
8) Focus on analytics (13:22)
9) Facing his son Bauer in a couple of years when he’s playing for St. Thomas (15:07)
10) Would he be interested in a role on the Jets bench this season? (16:17)
11) Excitement to have Mac Swanson joining UND (17:24)
Podcast:
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