Vincent Arseneau joins Thunder with championship pedigree

A year ago, even two years ago or three, Vincent Arseneau may not have even realized there was a choice.

Allen or the Thunder. Champions or ECHL also-rans.

The Thunder opens its season Saturday under first-year coach Malcolm Cameron, so no official indications have been shown on how much the team has improved following three years with no postseason.

But Arseneau, who helped Allen to consecutive ECHL championships, picked the Thunder, and Cameron added a recruit who probably wouldn’t have considered Wichita in recent offseasons.

“Because of the challenge,” said Arseneau, a 24-year-old forward with Triple-A American Hockey League experience. “I know it’s been tough for the past two or three years here, so it’s kind of a challenge for me.

“Being with Allen for the last two years and winning back-to-back, I think I learned a lot from those two years and I think I can bring something good to keep the streak going here.”

Arseneau has played for six teams since 2013 but is most identified with Allen, for which he played 40 games last season, because of his success there.

His departure for Wichita doesn’t necessarily indicate a shift in the balance of power, because Allen won the final Central Hockey League championship without Arseneau in 2014.

But it helps establish a new Thunder identity on multiple levels. First, it proves that some of the league’s best free agents will consider, and sometimes sign with, the Thunder while making Wichita attractive to players with AHL ability. Wichita’s new affiliation with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators helps those possibilities.

It also gives the Thunder a player with an edge, one who accumulated 120 penalty minutes with 37 points in 47 games for Denver of the CHL in 2013. Arseneau (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) also helps clear space for high-scoring line-mates.

“I’m a power forward,” Arseneau said. “I’m a guy who’s going to play 100 percent every game, every shift. I can bring some goals, but I think I can bring some leadership from playing in Allen the last two years. I think I can bring a lot to Wichita, but I need to focus and not put too much pressure on myself.”

Another factor that brought Arseneau to Wichita was that his friend, fellow Quebec native Alexis Loiseau, had already signed with the Thunder. Arseneau, two years older than Loiseau, had never called Loiseau a teammate.

The two are from the same island, Iles-de-la-Madeleine, population 12,000. Now they’re part of an even smaller subset, playing together on the same line.

“We’re pretty much the only two guys from there to play pro hockey,” Arseneau said. “We’re pretty close for the last five, six, seven years, so the chance to play with him – I couldn’t say no to that. We want to play together, but if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. But we’re going to start together, and I think Malcolm has good confidence in us.”

Arseneau has NHL aspirations but first wants to play most of a season in the AHL, where he has played 31 games in parts of four seasons. The Thunder never used to be a place to fulfill such goals, but the affiliation and Cameron’s recruiting ability puts it on par with the rest of the league.

Even, maybe, with Allen.

“It was a pretty tough decision to come here and leave Allen,” Arseneau said. “To be winning two championships with them, it was a good family together. It was a tough decision to leave Allen, for sure.”

This story was originally published October 14, 2016 at 11:09 AM with the headline "Vincent Arseneau joins Thunder with championship pedigree."