He leads the Providence Bruins in points, ranks first in goals and sits second in points. For those reasons, among others, second-year forward Jamie Arniel is an American Hockey League All-Star.
The 21-year-old was a late addition to the Eastern Conference squad on Jan. 25, replacing defenseman Steve Kampfer, who was previously named to represent Providence but remains up in Boston for the foreseeable future.
“It’s a nice honor,” said Arniel of the news he’d be heading to Hershey. “It just goes to show that my hard work’s paid off and everything. I’m looking forward to it. It should be a little bit of fun, and it’s a nice accolade.”
After winning the P-Bruins’ Rookie of the Year award last season with 12 goals and 16 assists in 67 games, Arniel has jumped out to a career-best 14 goals and 30 points in only 46 contests in his sophomore year, while also earning his first two NHL promotions and one game wearing the black and gold.
Believing for some time that Kampfer would not be returning for the All-Star festivities, if at all, Providence head coach Rob Murray was pleased to see Arniel selected as his club’s ambassador.
“Back when the selection committee, which I was a part of, asked me about Steve Kampfer, because Steve was going to get named to the team, I basically told the league that I really didn’t feel he’d be back,” said Murray. “So, I kind of put a bug in the ear that they’re gonna have to find a replacement, and I think Jamie was the next guy in line. At the time, he was essentially running away with our scoring lead and, though Zach Hamill’s now caught him, Jamie’s been playing well. He’s deserving of an All-Star pick.”
Among the things Arniel said he was looking forward to most was the Skills Competition, which was held on Sunday. The speedy winger hoped for the opportunity to participate in the Fastest Skater event, and the league didn’t let him down. Six skaters took a spin around the rink, and Arniel came away with the second-best time at 14.250 seconds. Manchester’s Viatcheslav Voynov finished in 14.197 seconds, edging Arniel by roughly half of a second.
The big event, however, is of course tonight’s game, and the All-Star rookie said he’d look around the locker room for advice before taking the ice.
“I might have to talk to somebody and see what kind of pacing you play with out there. You don’t want to be going too hard, or not hard enough, so you just gotta take a couple shifts and see what guys are doing. I’ll figure it out from there, I guess.”
Regardless of his pacing in the game, from top-team rookie honors in year one to league All-Star recognition in year two, his career pacing appears to be right on track.
