The Columbus Blue Jackets have their man after hiring Scott Arniel as the team’s new head coach.

This is the latest in a course of events over the last two months that saw the Blue Jackets offer the position originally to Guy Boucher, head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs, only to see him reject the job.

According to the Columbus Dispatch?, once he rejected the job, it was offered Arniel, who quickly accepted and will be in Columbus tomorrow for a press conference.

What does this have to do with the Pirates…? Well, it means that Pirates head coach Kevin Dineen wasn’t the second selection for the Blue Jackets, and nobody knows if he was even the third selection for Columbus

It also means that unless another NHL team, who is looking for a head coach – Tampa, New Jersey and Atlanta – comes calling, then Dineen will be back in Portland for a sixth season.

Dineen had no comment on the situation according to Director of Communication of the Portland Pirates Mark Jenneret.

Dineen’s name has also been linked to the job in Tampa Bay, but they have yet to seek permission from the Buffalo to interview Dineen, whose contract expires on June 30th, however, Sabres’ GM Darcy Regier feels that keeping Dineen in the organization wouldn’t be an issue if the opportunity arose.

“We’d love to keep him and certainly will when appropriate,” said Regier in Manchester during Game 4 of the Pirates’ first round series.

With the draft coming up in a few weeks, and the Sabres beginning to sign their younger prospect, it will be key to get Dineen under contract, if he’s exhausted his NHL ambitions for this season.

(Chris Roy is a contributing hockey writer for Buffalo Sports Daily. He’ll be covering the Sabres AHL affiliated Portland Pirates. He also runs a very good hockey site called the Maine Street Journal. Be sure to check it out)