Doug Armstrong of the St. Louis Blues organization has been announced as the general manager for Hockey Canada for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Armstrong has successfully built the Blues into a consistent winner, so there is little doubt he will keep Canada near the top of the international standings. The organization announced the personnel decision Wednesday morning.
Doug Armstrong has been selected to serve as general manager for @HockeyCanada at the 2022 Winter Olympics. https://t.co/wFz0h5YOFk #stlblues
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) February 3, 2021
Doug Armstrong Named Manager for Hockey Canada
This seems like a strong hire. Armstrong has been St. Louis’ general manager for 11 seasons. In that span of time, the team has made the playoffs eight times and won one Stanley Cup in 2018-19. He has built a very competitive roster by acquiring such players as Ryan O’Rielly and Jordan Binnington.
Armstrong has experience with Hockey Canada. He was part of its management group in 2010 and 2014 when the nation won the gold medal both times. They defeated the United States in a very exciting overtime victory in 2010 and shut out Sweden in 2014. As some will remember, the 2018 Winter Olympics were a bit awkward. No NHL personnel participated in the tournament and Team Canada was managed by Sean Burke. But Team Canada is returning to Armstrong for the next slate.
What This Means for Team Canada
Armstrong will have a lot of decisions to make. The NHL hasn’t sent players to the Winter Olympics since 2014 and in that time, a lot of new talents have emerged. He’ll have to decide between an amazing selection of players and figure out how to work young stars like Connor McDavid and Cale Makar in with the older staff of players like Alex Pietrangelo and Sidney Crosby. There is also a terrific selection of coaches to bring on, with Jared Bednar, Jon Cooper, and St. Louis’ own Craig Berube all emerging as top-end coaching talents from Canada. With so much Canadian talent in the works, there’s no doubting Armstrong will put together an amazing lineup, no matter what choices he makes.
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