Colby Armstrong

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Colby Armstrong
ColbyArmstrong.jpg
Armstrong during his tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins
Born (1982-11-23) November 23, 1982 (age 41)
Lloydminster, SK, CAN
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for Pittsburgh Penguins
Atlanta Thrashers
Toronto Maple Leafs
Montreal Canadiens
Vaxjo Lakers HC
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 21st overall, 2001
Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career 2002–2014

Colby Joseph Armstrong (born November 23, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Atlanta Thrashers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens in a 12-year career. He currently serves as an NHL analyst for Sportsnet. Armstrong's younger brother, Riley Armstrong, also played in the NHL, with the San Jose Sharks.

Early life

Armstrong grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in the city's northeastern neighborhood of Erindale. In the off-season, he lives southeast of Saskatoon in the village of Clavet. He played hockey with the Saskatoon Red Wings and the Saskatoon Blazers. Additionally, as a child he was a figure-skater. He, along with Los Angeles Kings forward Jarret Stoll, Philadelphia Flyers brothers Brayden and Luke Schenn and Eric Gryba of the Edmonton Oilers, all attended St. Joseph High School in Saskatoon.

Playing career

Armstrong was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft as the 21st pick overall.

In the 2005–06 season, Armstrong made his NHL debut, and had a superb rookie season, in which he played 47 games and tallied 40 points (16 goals and 24 assists) and had a team-high plus-minus rating of +15.

Armstrong had three overtime goals for the Penguins in the 2006–07 season, beating Kari Lehtonen of the Atlanta Thrashers, Ed Belfour of the Florida Panthers and Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers. The Penguins and Armstrong avoided an arbitration hearing in the 2006–07 off-season by re-signing him to two-year, $2.2 million contract.[1]

Armstrong became very close friends with former teammate Sidney Crosby while playing for the Penguins.

Armstrong was a member of Canada's 2007 IIHF World Championship-winning team. His only goal of the tournament was the game-winning goal in the gold medal game against Finland in Moscow, which Canada won 4–2.

Pittsburgh traded Armstrong on February 26, 2008, to the Atlanta Thrashers, alongside Angelo Esposito, Erik Christensen and a first-round draft pick, in exchange for Marián Hossa and Pascal Dupuis.[2] He then scored 11 points in 18 games to finish out the 2007–08 season with Atlanta.

On July 16, 2009, Armstrong re-signed with the Thrashers to a one-year, $2.4 million contract. He served as one of the team's alternate captains during the 2009–10 season.

On July 1, 2010, Armstrong signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Toronto Maple Leafs on a three-year, $9 million contract.[3] With his first two seasons largely affected by injury and inconsistent play, on June 30, 2012, he was bought-out by the Maple Leafs from his final season of his contract.

With the opening of free agency the next day on July 1, 2012, Armstrong was signed to a one-year, $1 million contract with the Montreal Canadiens.[4] During the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season, Armstrong predominately played on the fourth line as a part of a revitalized Canadiens team, contributing with just five points in 37 games to help qualify the Habs for the 2013 playoffs.

On July 27, 2013, Armstrong left the NHL as a free agent and signed his first European contract with the Växjö Lakers of the Swedish Hockey League.[5]

Broadcasting career

Since the 2014–15 season, Armstrong was hired by Rogers Media and now serves as an analyst for Sportsnet's national coverage of the NHL.

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1998–99 Saskatoon Blazers SMHL 33 21 19 40 103 — — — — —
1998–99 Red Deer Rebels WHL 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
1999–00 Red Deer Rebels WHL 68 13 25 38 122 2 0 1 1 11
2000–01 Red Deer Rebels WHL 72 36 42 78 156 21 6 6 12 29
2001–02 Red Deer Rebels WHL 64 27 41 68 115 23 6 10 16 22
2002–03 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 73 7 11 18 76 3 0 0 0 4
2003–04 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 67 10 17 27 71 24 3 1 4 45
2004–05 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 80 18 37 55 89 10 4 2 6 14
2005–06 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 47 16 24 40 58 — — — — —
2005–06 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 31 11 18 29 44 — — — — —
2006–07 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 80 12 22 34 67 5 0 1 1 11
2007–08 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 54 9 15 24 50 — — — — —
2007–08 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 18 4 7 11 6 — — — — —
2008–09 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 82 22 18 40 75 — — — — —
2009–10 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 79 15 14 29 61 — — — — —
2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 50 8 15 23 61 — — — — —
2011–12 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 29 1 2 3 9 — — — — —
2012–13 Montreal Canadiens NHL 37 2 3 5 12 4 0 0 0 15
2013–14 Vaxjo HC SHL 37 12 7 19 26 10 0 1 1 20
NHL totals 476 89 120 209 376 9 0 1 1 26

Transactions

  • On July 1, 2010 the Toronto Maple Leafs signed unrestricted free agent Colby Armstrong to a 3-year contract.
  • On July 1, 2012 the Toronto Maple Leafs bought out the contract of Colby Armstrong making player an unrestricted free agent.
  • On July 1, 2012 the Montreal Canadiens signed unrestricted free agent Colby Armstrong to a 1-year contract.[11]

References

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  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Pittsburgh Penguins first round draft pick
2001		 Succeeded by
Ryan Whitney
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