Kevin Arsenault, 25, is starting the countdown to his final game as a Western hockey player.
The senior plans to graduate this spring with a double major in marketing and management. Along with his busy school and sports schedule, he found time to hold down a job at Best Buy for the past six years.
“It’s tough — I don’t know how I balance it,” Arsenault said. “I’m the sort of person who takes it as it comes.”
Arsenault has played on Western’s hockey team for five years, but his career didn’t start there. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he was 7 years old when the future Viking found a passion for the sport.
“I was absolutely terrible, but it was the most fun I’d ever had,” Arsenault said, referring to his early days.
Growing up in Canada had a big influence on his growing hockey interest. In Canada “it’s a religion,” he said.
His hockey idol is Trevor Linden, who played for the Vancouver Canucks.
“He did whatever he needed to do to win,” Arsenault said.
Throughout his hockey career, Arsenault hasn’t broken any bones but has endured two concussions that still affect him.
“Sometimes I lose my train of thought, and I’m very forgetful. I don’t know if that’s because of the concussion though,” Arsenault said, laughing about it. “That’s the nice thing about a concussion — you can blame stuff on it.”
The Vikings have had a successful season so far with a 14-2-0 record.
“This season has been really good for the team,” Arsenault said. “For me, personally, it hasn’t been my best season. I’ve only played about half of the games because of personal issues that I had to leave for.”
This is John Dougan’s fourth year coaching Western’s men’s hockey club. He has discovered what Arsenault is capable of accomplishing.
“Kevin is a really valuable guy to have on our team,” Dougan said. “Arsenault is the one of the team’s best penalty killers.”
Arsenault remembers a game at San Jose State University, which was a number-three ranked team. Arsenault said the Vikings traveled about 20 hours to play against the school on their alumni night, and the team was doing a lot of trash talking. Then the Vikings defeated the team, 3-2.
“There’s no better trash talk than the scoreboard,” Arsenault said.
Arsenault’s performance on the rink has earned him the respect of his fellow teammates.
The last game of the season on Feb. 18 will mark Arsenault’s final game playing for Western. After graduation, Arsenault is considering consulting or owning his own business, but he has no doubts that he will still be playing his favorite sport.
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