The Green Bay Gamblers are pleased to announce that Ryan Petersen and Grant Arnold have been named assistant coaches. Petersen and Arnold take over for Cody Chupp, who accepted the head coaching position with the Lincoln Stars (USHL).
“We are excited to add both Ryan and Grant to our coaching staff,” said Gamblers Head Coach/General Manager Pat Mikesch, “Both have won championships and understand the culture of winning.”
Petersen spent the previous season with Lawrence University (Appleton, WI) as associate head coach. Duties included scouting, recruiting, practice/game preparation and day-to-day operations. Petersen also spent time as an assistant coach with St. Norbert and the Madison Capitols.
Petersen played two seasons in the USHL serving as the Gamblers team captain during the 2004-2005 season. As a collegiate player, Petersen played four seasons at St. Norbert (DePere, WI) tallying 34 goals and 39 assists for the Green Knights. A two-year team captain, Petersen led the Green Knights to three NCHA regular season titles, two Peters Cups and the 2008 NCAA Division III title. Overall, St. Norbert was 96-18-9 during Petersen’s four years. The North St. Paul, Minnesota native was twice named to the NCHA All-Academic team.
Arnold spent the previous season as an assistant captain for the Quad City Mallards of the East Coast Hockey League where he helped guide the team to their first 40-win season in franchise history.
Arnold played three seasons in Green Bay for coaches Jon Cooper, Eric Rud and Derek Lalonde. During his three years, the Gamblers reached the Clark Cup Finals in three consecutive seasons (2010, 2011, 2012), hoisted two Clark Cups (2010, 2012) and two Anderson Cups (2009, 2012). Arnold served as an assistant captain during the 2010-2011 season and captain during the 2011-2012 season.
Arnold played his colligate hockey at the University of Denver. The Centennial, CO native served as team captain for his junior and senior campaigns. By doing so, he was the first player in 62 years to serve as team captain in back-to-back seasons. In his four years at Denver, the Pioneers qualified for the NCAA tournament four times and were crowned NCAA Division 1 national champions in 2014. In 2014-15, Arnold received the Dr. Ralph Verploeg Award, presented to the Pioneers’ Most Inspirational player. That same year, Arnold received NCHC Academic All-Conference recognition.
Both Petersen and Arnold will assume their roles immediately.
