Tyler Arnason

Tyler Lawrence Arnason (born March 16, 1979) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators and the Colorado Avalanche.

Early life He is the son of former NHL winger Chuck Arnason. Arnason was born in Oklahoma City, when his father was a member of the Oklahoma City Stars of the Central Hockey League (CHL).

Arnason and his family moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba following the end of his father's career. He attended St. John's-Ravenscourt School, graduating in 1997.

Arnason is the brother of Canadian actress and screenwriter Aubrey Arnason.

Playing career Arnason attended St. Cloud State University and played 118 games for the men's hockey team, registering 136 points in his three years with the team. In 2001, he led St. Cloud to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association title. In his first professional season, Arnason started out with the Blackhawks but due to poor conditioning spent most of the year with the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. Arnason was also awarded the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as the league's top rookie, and was named to the league's All-Rookie team. played in the NHL Youngstars Game and was named in the All-Rookie team. In the very early morning of January 21, 2003, Arnason was involved in an off-ice incident. Arnason, Phil Housley and Theoren Fleury were leaving the Pure Platinum strip club in Columbus, Ohio when Fleury punched the club's manager in the face. Housley and Arnason had to step in to prevent Fleury from being beaten by the bouncers. On August 11, 2005, Arnason re-signed with the Blackhawks for one year. With the Blackhawks that season, Arnason had tallied 13 goals and 41 points in 60 games when, on March 9, 2006, he was traded to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Brandon Bochenski and a second-round pick in the 2006 NHL entry draft. Ottawa's intent was for Arnason to center the second line.

On July 1, 2006, Arnason signed a one-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche. As his father played for the Rockies for two seasons, Arnason's signing made him the first son of a former Rockies player to play for the Avalanche. Arnason enjoyed a return to form by posting 49 points for the Avalanche in the 2006–07 season. He was consequently awarded a two-year extension by the Avalanche on June 22, 2007. His second season with the Avalanche saw Arnason tally 10 goals and 31 points in 70 games. In his third and final season in Colorado, he registered 5 goals and 21 points in 70 games.

On July 3, 2009, Arnason signed a one-year two-way contract with the New York Rangers for the 2009–10 season. On November 10, 2009, without the ambition to play in the AHL he was suspended by the Rangers and released from his contract to sign with the European team Dinamo Riga of the Kontinental Hockey League. Following a difficult transition and recording only 11 points in 26 games, Arnason's contract was not renewed by Riga at season's end.

Returning to North America, as a free agent, he accepted a tryout invitation to attend the Florida Panthers training camp for the 2010–11 season. Subsequently, released from the Panthers during the preseason, Arnason then initially accepted another invite to his local AHL club, the Manitoba Moose, affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, before electing to not report to camp on September 27, 2010. Arnason then accepted a temporary contract to return to Europe, signing with Swiss team EHC Biel of the National League A (NLA) on October 14, 2010. He scored 10 points in 9 games with Biel before he moved on to EHC Visp of the National League B (NLB), signing a contract for the remainder of the season on November 11, 2010. However, a week later, Arnason was released playing in just a single game with Visp, after both parties mutually opted to exercise an exit clause in the contract on November 18, 2010. On January 31, 2011, Arnason joined Finnish team, Espoo Blues, for the remainder of the season. However, his tenure with his new club was again short lived, as after 8 games, Arnason sought a release from the Blues to return to the United States on February 28, 2011.

On October 7, 2011, Arnason was named on the Texas Stars opening night roster for the 2011–12 AHL season. After seven games with the Stars, Arnason opted to be released from his try-out on October 29 and ended his professional career.

International play Arnason played for Team USA at the 2007 IIHF World Championship. He scored in Team USA's final game against Finland, which Finland won 5–4. Team USA finished fifth in the tournament.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1995–96 Winnipeg Warriors AAA Midget 39 19 25 44 20 — — — — — 1996–97 Winnipeg South Blues MJHL 50 35 50 85 15 6 3 3 6 181997–98 Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks USHL 52 37 45 82 16 4 1 1 2 2 1998–99 St. Cloud State University WCHA 38 14 17 31 16 — — — — — 1999–2000 St. Cloud State University WCHA 39 19 30 49 18 — — — — — 2000–01 St. Cloud State University WCHA 41 28 28 56 14 — — — — — 2001–02 Norfolk Admirals AHL 60 26 30 56 42 — — — — — 2001–02 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 21 3 1 4 4 3 0 0 0 0 2002–03 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 82 19 20 39 20 — — — — — 2003–04 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 82 22 33 55 16 — — — — — 2004–05 Brynäs IF SEL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2005–06 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 60 13 28 41 40 — — — — — 2005–06 Ottawa Senators NHL 19 0 4 4 4 — — — — — 2006–07 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 16 33 49 26 — — — — — 2007–08 Colorado Avalanche NHL 70 10 21 31 16 10 2 3 5 2 2008–09 Colorado Avalanche NHL 71 5 17 22 14 — — — — — 2009–10 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 11 0 3 3 2 — — — — — 2009–10 Dinamo Riga KHL 26 4 7 11 6 3 0 1 1 0 2010–11 EHC Biel NLA 9 5 5 10 0 — — — — — 2010–11 EHC Visp NLB 1 1 0 1 0 — — — — — 2010–11 Blues SM-l 8 0 4 4 0 — — — — — 2011–12 Texas Stars AHL 7 1 0 1 0 — — — — — NHL totals 487 88 157 245 140 13 2 3 5 2

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2007 United States WC 5th 7 1 3 4 0 Senior totals 7 1 3 4 0

Awards and honors Award Year Junior MJHL Rookie of the Year 1996–97 USHL First All-Star Team 1997–98 College WCHA Rookie Team 1998–99 WCHA Second Team 1999–00 WCHA All-Tournament Team 2001 AHL All-Star Game 2002 All-Rookie Team 2001–02 Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award 2001–02 NHL YoungStars Game 2002–03 All-Rookie Team 2002–03