Manitoba Moose

He wants to return to his familiar place behind the bench at the MTS Centre and the Vancouver Canucks want the same thing, so expect to hear news within days that free-agent Manitoba Moose head coach Scott Arniel is signed up for next season.

Arniel, who guided the team to the Calder Cup final in his third season in charge here, has averaged 47 wins and 102 points a year. His first contract with the Canucks runs out at the end of the month.

"I've said all along that there's lots more to learn," Arniel said Sunday. "I plan on being here in September. I'll be talking to them in the next couple of days."

The 46-year-old native of Kingston, Ont., has been frequently mentioned among the next wave of coaches ready for the NHL. He had one courtesy call earlier this spring from the Edmonton Oilers -- a compliment, for sure, on his resume -- but there was never any chance he was headed there.

Sunday, in the middle of a long day of end-of-season meetings with Moose brass and players, Canucks vice-president of player personnel and assistant general manager Lorne Henning sounded like he had no concern Arniel would get away from the Canucks.

"We've been looking to do this for a while but Scott didn't want it going on during the playoffs," Henning said. "This is a high priority for us. We've already talked a little bit about it and in the next couple of days for sure.

"We want him back because we can't say enough about the job he's done. He's a great coach and we value having someone who can teach young players and show them the right way to do things."

Henning, who watched the AHL final as well as most of the playoffs, said the Canucks are eager to continue a now-improving affiliation with the Moose.

"We love this relationship with Zinger (GM Craig Heisinger)," he said. "This is a first-class organization, including Scotty and Chip (Moose governor Mark Chipman). You can't say enough about how they treat the players. This is how you want it; we're trying to win and they're trying to win.

"How are you going to get it better, having Mike Keane showing Yannik Hansen or Mason Raymond what it takes? You just can't replace that kind of experience. We want players in a winning environment and to be good people. It's what we're all about and what they're all about."

A day that might have seen a thrilling, winner-take-all Game 7 for the Calder Cup instead was left for clean-up as Sunday, the Moose packed up their bags and gear for the summer.

"It still sucks; losing is no fun," Arniel said.

The team's playoff run, which ended after 102 games overall -- 22 playoff games and a 4-2 loss in the final to Hershey -- certainly counts for something.

"This doesn't wipe away the Jets," Arniel said. "Things brings in a whole new era."

Moose captain Mike Keane agreed this experience was of great value.

"In the big picture, we had guys get called up, we had 15,000 at playoff games, which I'm sure a lot of people thought we'd never do, we had players develop and this is what the league is about," Keane said.

Keane also agreed with the oft-spouted theory that teams or organizations need to get close and lose before they know what it really takes to win.

"I think that's a valid opinion," he said. "You learn from good and bad experiences. For me, Game 6 (of the final) hurt but Game 1 hurt the most.

"Next year going forward, if you're back to where you were before, you'd make sure that didn't happen again, you'd (focus more) on winning your games at home and use the experiences from you learned from to make sure it will better your team.

"You always look back and say, 'Make sure we don't do this, this and this because of that.' "

The captain also said he's still eager to play, adding: "I want to. I've always said I want to play as long as I have the fire. I still get the cold sweats putting the jersey on. I'm pissed off when we lose."

Moose contracts status report

FREE AGENTS
Jason Krog, Jason Jaffray, Nolan Baumgartner, Mike Keane, Michel Ouellet, Curtis Sanford, Mark Cullen, Matt Pope, Greg Rallo, Todd Ford, Derek Nesbitt, Tommy Maxwell

RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
Shaun Heshka, Nathan McIver, Zack FitzGerald

UNDER CONTRACT (VANCOUVER OR MANITOBA)
Cory Schneider, Michael Grabner, Alexandre Bolduc, Mario Bliznak, Guillaume Desbiens, Dusty Collins, Travis Ramsey, Taylor Ellington, P.C. Labrie, Eric Walsky, Evan Oberg, Daniel Rahimi

CONTRACTS WITH DALLAS STARS
Mark Fistric (restricted free agent), Max Fortunus, Ray Sawada

NHL OR JUNIOR
Cody Hodgson

DRAFT ELIGIBLE
Travis Ehrhardt