On Monday night, Edmonton Oilers coach Pat Quinn strolled over to Dean Arsene's locker and said the words he'd been waiting to hear since he was a youngster growing up in Abbotsford.

"You're playing tonight."

In nine seasons as a pro hockey player, the 29-year-old defenceman had played 511 games (regular season and playoffs) in the AHL and ECHL without getting so much as a cup of coffee in the NHL.

But on Monday night, Arsene finally sipped his long-awaited cup of joe, suiting up for the Edmonton Oilers against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He received just 6:24 of ice time in the Oilers' 3-2 shootout loss, but that was more than enough to put a huge smile on his face.

"Still, I don't think it's sunk in," Arsene told The News on Tuesday. "You want to pinch yourself. It feels like a dream."

Until Monday, Arsene's career was reminiscent of Crash Davis, Kevin Costner's character in the classic baseball movie Bull Durham – a career minor leaguer whose greatest contributions came in helping others make it to The Show.

But last Saturday, Arsene was called up from the AHL's Springfield Falcons and met the Oilers in Atlanta. He nearly got into the lineup against the Thrashers on Sunday, but was a late scratch after veteran blueliner Sheldon Souray was deemed fit to play after a five-week absence.

An injury to centre Sam Gagner opened the door on Monday, though, as the Oilers elected to dress seven D-men against Columbus. Arsene got the news from Quinn a half-hour before warm-up.

"It was pretty incredible," he said. "You're never quite sure if it's ever going to happen when you've been in the minors for so long, and once it finally did come, it was obviously exciting.

"It was almost a little nerve-wracking, too. But once I got on the ice, all of that subsided. I was just playing a game, like I'd done hundreds of times before."

Monday's game validated Arsene's decision to depart the Washington Capitals organization in the off-season to sign a two-way free agent deal with the Oilers. He'd spent the previous six seasons with the Hershey Bears, winning the Calder Cup with Washington's AHL affiliate in 2007 and 2009, but he never played so much as a pre-season game with the Capitals during that period.

"It wasn't an easy decision to leave Hershey," he admitted. "I could have gone back there and probably played out my career there. But this (playing in the NHL) was one thing on my resumé that I really wanted to make happen. The Oilers took a chance on me and I did the same, and it worked out."

One of the special aspects of Arsene's debut was the support he felt from back home in Abbotsford.

"My phone is about to melt," he said with a chuckle. "I don't know how many texts and phone calls I've gotten. I've tried to keep up, but it's almost impossible."