Colby Armstrong
Colby Armstrong | |||
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Born |
Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, Canada | November 23, 1982||
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 |
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NHL Draft |
21st overall, 2001 Pittsburgh Penguins | ||
Playing career | 2004–2014 |
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 9-year career. As of 2015 he serves as an NHL analyst for Sportsnet. Armstrong's younger brother, Riley briefly played in the NHL, with the San Jose Sharks.
Early life[]
Armstrong was born in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, but grew up in 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 | ||
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Representing ![]() | ||
Ice hockey | ||
World Championships | ||
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2007 Russia | |
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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[]
- On June 23, 2001, selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first-round (#21 overall) of the 2001 NHL draft.[8]
- On August 12, 2005, re-signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins.[9]
- On July 21, 2006, re-signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 1-year contract.[10]
- On July 12, 2007, re-signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 2-year/$2.4 million contract.[11]
- On February 26, 2008, traded by the Pittsburgh Penguins with Angelo Esposito, Erik Christensen and a 2008 first-round pick (#29-Daultan Leveille) to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for Marián Hossa and Pascal Dupuis.[12]
- On July 16, 2009, re-signed by the Atlanta Thrashers.
- On July 1, 2010, signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent to a 3-year/$9 million contract.
- On June 30, 2012, the Toronto Maple Leafs bought out his contract, making him an unrestricted free agent.
- On July 1, 2012, signed by the Montreal Canadiens as an unrestricted free agent to a 1-year/$1 million contract.[13]
References[]
- ^ "Colby Armstrong player profile". eliteprospects.com. June 4, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
- ^ "Pens re-sign Armstrong". pittsburghlive.com. 2006-07-21. Archived from the original on 2009-05-26. Retrieved 2007-01-12.
- ^ "Penguins get Hossa, hoping he's the missing piece to their Cup". ESPN. 2008-02-27. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
- ^ "Maple Leafs ink Colby Armstrong". The Globe and Mail. 2010-07-01. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
- ^ "Canadiens sign Free Agents Prust, Bouillon, Armstrong". Montreal Gazette. 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2012-07-01.
- ^ "Colby Armstrong official profile". Twitter. 2013-07-27. Retrieved 2013-07-27.
- ^ "ROOT SPORTS Adds Armstrong, Rupp As Analysts". The Official Site of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
- ^ "NHL Entry Draft Year by Year Results". NHL. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
- ^ "PENGUINS RE-SIGN RIGHT WING COLBY ARMSTRONG - Pittsburgh Penguins". Pittsburgh Penguins. August 12, 2005. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
- ^ "PENGUINS RE-SIGN ARMSTRONG TO ONE-YEAR DEAL - Pittsburgh Penguins - News". Pittsburgh Penguins. July 21, 2006. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
- ^ "Penguins Re-Sign Colby Armstrong - Pittsburgh Penguins - News". July 12, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Canadiens sign Colby Armstrong to a one-year contract - Montreal Canadiens - News". Montreal Canadiens. July 2, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
External links[]
- Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- Colby Armstrong on Twitter
- 1982 births
- Living people
- Atlanta Thrashers players
- Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden
- Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States
- Canadian ice hockey right wingers
- Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan
- Memorial Cup winners
- Montreal Canadiens players
- National Hockey League first round draft picks
- Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks
- Pittsburgh Penguins players
- Red Deer Rebels players
- Sportspeople from Lloydminster
- Toronto Maple Leafs players
- Växjö Lakers players
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players