Elliott: The Arniel family has some of Kingston’s deepest sporting roots
May 17, 2025
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
Down two goals with less than two minutes remaining in Game 7.
Sound like pressure for the coach behind the bench?
How about trailing by a goal with less than five ticks on the clock?
Pressure could be the middle name for Scott Arniel, first-year coach of the Winnipeg Jets.
Arniel’s Jets made it a one-goal game when Vladislav Namestnikov scored with 1:56 left in the third period and Cole Perfetti evened the score with 1.6 seconds remaining. Later adjusted to 2.2 seconds. Winnipeg won in overtime when Adam Lowry scored in the second overtime, allowing the Jets to advance against the Dallas Stars.
In fact pressure -- and the ability to handle it -- could have been the middle name of Scott’s father, Doug Arniel, as well.
Scott’s father played outfield for my father with the Kingston Lakeview Indians in 1967. Kingston played the Orillia Majors in the OBA final. The Orillia park was similar to Ottawa’s Lansdowne Park: regular distances to both left and right field, but centre was the shallowest distance since there was a hockey rink in straightaway centre.
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Kingston’s Sporting royalty: Arniel, Cherry, Cook, Earl and Gilmour families
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Kingston starter Keith Weese allowed three runs -- two earned -- in the first and Orillia starter Trevor Madden kept the score 3-0 until the top of the eighth. That’s when Weese hit a fly ball to score Arniel, who had doubled earlier, with Kingston’s first run.
Clyde Harris led off the top of the ninth with a solo homer. One out later, Don Goodridge singled and pinch-hitter Elwyn Watts forced Goodridge at second, but beat out the possible double play attempt at first.
My father walked in slowly from third base to tell Billy Kyle in the first-base dugout to pinch run for Watts. While this was unfolding -- Kingston an out away from falling behind 1-0 in the best-of-three OBA senior final -- Arniel walked down the first base line to talk to coach Cliffy Earl.
“What is silly old Knobber doing?” Arniel told Earl. Father picked up the Knobber nickname playing basketball for the Queen’s University Golden Gaels because he had knobby knees.
“Has he lost his mind? We don’t need a pinch runner,” Arniel continued.
Earl replied with a quizzical look.
“We don’t need a pinch runner because I’m going to hit the first pitch onto the roof of that arena.”
It should be mentioned Arniel, nicknamed “Slugger,” had not hit a home run all season.
Now, we don’t remember whether it was the first pitch or the second pitch, but, Slugger lived up to his nickname hitting the ball almost to the peak of the roof in straightaway centre for a two-run homer giving Kingston the lead.
Weese set down the Majors No. 6, 7 and 8 hitters on three ground balls and Kingston had a 1-0 lead in the series.
Back in Kingston at the Cricket Field, Art Leeman allowed the Majors a run in the first. Then Brian Coffey doubled home two in the third for a 2-1 lead. Harris and Guy White knocked in a run each in the next two innings. Orillia scored twice in the top half of the seventh to make it a one-run game. Doug McIlroy took over with the bases loaded and struck out the Majors clean-up hitter to escape the jam.
Lefty McIlroy pitched 2 1/3 innings of hitless ball. Leeman, who pitched a no-hitter against the Oakville A’s in the semi-final, singled home a run in the seventh inning for a 5-3 victory.
Jim Arneil, left, with his son Doug Arneil.
None of it would have been possible without Slugger’s Game 1 homer. It was Kingston’s first OBA title since 1932 when Slugger’s father, Jimmy, and Slugger’s uncle, Gerry, played for the Kingston Ponies alongside the legendary Hewitt Smith.
How about that?
Scott Arniel was an apple who did not fall far from the tree. Tayher he shimmied down the bark.
Scott, who my sister, Elizabeth, used to babysit for parents, Barb and Doug, played junior for the Cornwall Royals, winning Memorial Cup in back-to-back seasons ... beating the Peterborough Petes 3-2 with Doug Carpenter behind the bench in 1980 in Regina (led by Dale Hawerchuk) and beating the Kitchener Rangers 5-2 behind three goals from Arniel for rookie coach Bob Kilger (led by Hawerchuk and Doug Gilmour).
A friend of mine had two buddies on those Royals teams and constantly asked his friend who is the nicest teammate?
The answer was always “Hawerchuk and Arniel.”
Truly one of Kingston’s most influential sporting families.