Colby Armstrong

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 9-year career. He currently serves as an NHL analyst for Sportsnet. Armstrong's younger brother, Riley briefly played in the NHL, with the San Jose Sharks.

Colby Armstrong
Born (1982-11-23) November 23, 1982
Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, Canada
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 2004–2014

Early life

Armstrong was born in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, but grew up in Saskatoon. In the off-season, he lives in the village of Clavet, located southeast of Saskatoon. As a child, he was a figure-skater. He later played hockey with the Saskatoon Red Wings and the Saskatoon Blazers. Like Los Angeles Kings forward Jarret Stoll, Philadelphia Flyers brothers Brayden and Luke Schenn, and Eric Gryba of the Edmonton Oilers, he attended St. Joseph High School in Saskatoon.[1]

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.[2] Armstrong became very close friends with teammate Sidney Crosby while playing for the Penguins. On January 1, 2008, Armstrong scored the first ever outdoor Winter Classic goal in the inaugural event.

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.[3] 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.[4] 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, July 1, 2012, Armstrong signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Montreal Canadiens.[5] During the lock-out-shortened 2012–13 season, Armstrong played mostly on the fourth line. Although he contributed only 5 points in 37 games, Montreal made the 2013 playoffs.

On July 27, 2013, Armstrong left the NHL as a free agent and signed his first and only European contract with the Växjö Lakers of the Swedish Hockey League.[6]

International play
Medal record
Representing  Canada
Ice hockey
World Championships
2007 Russia
2009 Switzerland

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. He scored the first ever outdoor Winter Classic goal in the inaugural 2008 event.

Broadcasting career

Rogers Media hired Armstrong as an analyst for Sportsnet's national coverage of the NHL starting in the 2014–15 season. Since 2016, he has also been an analyst of Pittsburgh Penguins games for the AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh post-game broadcast crew.[7]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1998–99 Saskatoon Contacts AAA SMHL 33 21 19 40 103 — — — — —
1998–99 Red Deer Rebels WHL 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
1999–2000 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 Växjö Lakers SHL 37 12 7 19 26 10 0 1 1 20
AHL totals 251 46 83 129 280 37 7 4 11 22
NHL totals 476 89 120 209 376 9 0 1 1 26

International
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2007 Canada WC 9 1 1 2 4
2009 Canada WC 9 0 3 3 4
Senior totals 18 1 4 5 8

Transactions

References
  1. "Colby Armstrong player profile". eliteprospects.com. June 4, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  2. "Pens re-sign Armstrong". pittsburghlive.com. 2006-07-21. Archived from the original on 2009-05-26. Retrieved 2007-01-12.
  3. "Penguins get Hossa, hoping he's the missing piece to their Cup". ESPN. 2008-02-27. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  4. "Maple Leafs ink Colby Armstrong". The Globe and Mail. 2010-07-01. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
  5. "Canadiens sign Free Agents Prust, Bouillon, Armstrong". Montreal Gazette. 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2012-07-01.
  6. "Colby Armstrong official profile". Twitter. 2013-07-27. Retrieved 2013-07-27.
  7. "ROOT SPORTS Adds Armstrong, Rupp As Analysts". The Official Site of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  8. "NHL Entry Draft Year by Year Results". NHL. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  9. "PENGUINS RE-SIGN RIGHT WING COLBY ARMSTRONG - Pittsburgh Penguins". Pittsburgh Penguins. August 12, 2005. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  10. "PENGUINS RE-SIGN ARMSTRONG TO ONE-YEAR DEAL - Pittsburgh Penguins - News". Pittsburgh Penguins. July 21, 2006. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  11. "Penguins Re-Sign Colby Armstrong - Pittsburgh Penguins - News". July 12, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  12. "PENS ACQUIRE HOSSA, DUPUIS FROM ATLANTA - Pittsburgh Penguins - News". Pittsburgh Penguins. February 26, 2008. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  13. "Canadiens sign Colby Armstrong to a one-year contract - Montréal Canadiens - News". Montreal Canadiens. July 2, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Brooks Orpik		 Pittsburgh Penguins first round draft pick
2001		 Succeeded by
Ryan Whitney
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