Should anyone be surprised Grant Arnold decided to go into coaching hockey?

If anything the jolt was he decided to do it after his one – and only – season of pro hockey. The Quad City Mallards of the East Coast Hockey League would have welcomed the two-time DU captain back in a second after he debuted with an 11-goal, 28-point season and quickly established himself as one of the team’s core leaders.

In Arnold’s case, he said – and I’m paraphrasing – the spirit was willing but the body had other ideas. His passion for the game has never been stronger, and he feels the next step at age 26 is to enter into the coaching world.

One option would have been to be a player coach with Quad City (a modern day Reggie Dunlop?). He also explored various assistant coaching openings in the United States Hockey League, including but not limited to Tri-City. However, when a job came open in Green Bay, the team Arnold helped win two Clark Cups, it was too good to pass up.

Arnold’s style of play – relentless – and his background – the Centennial native played youth hockey for the Littleton Hawks, Colorado Thunderbirds and Colorado Rampage – made him one of the Pioneers’ most popular players during his four seasons at Denver. He graciously agreed to spend some time touching on his decision to retire, his new job and his pride in being part of the Pioneers family.

We hope you enjoy our audio interview with Grant (in mp3 format).