Doug Armstrong reflects on eclipsing 1,000 games as Blues GM: ‘It’s a great honor’ – The Athletic

Fifteen years after Doug Armstrong began working with the St. Louis Blues as the general manager in waiting in 2008, he will be in the GM chair for his 1,000th regular-season game with the franchise Tuesday in Winnipeg.

“It came fast,” said Armstrong, who took over the position in 2010 and is now in his 13th season. “It’s a great honor to be with one organization with this history this long.”

Armstrong, 59, will become just the 23rd GM in league history to reach the 1,000-game milestone with one franchise.

The Blues’ record in his 999 regular-season games with the franchise is 560-332-107 (.614 points percentage), which is the sixth-best points percentage of any club in the NHL in that span. If you add the playoffs, it’s another 109 games, where his record is 50-58 (.463 points percentage) and includes a Stanley Cup.

“That’s unbelievable,” said Arizona GM Bill Armstrong, who spent a decade with the Blues organization before joining the Coyotes in 2020. “And it’s not only 1,000 games, but 1,000 with a Cup and a lot of good, competitive teams. He’s kept the franchise at a high level for a long time, and that’s not easy to do.

“I consider him to be one of the top GMs in the National Hockey League. He’s got a very high respect level because of the work he’s done and just the quality of teams he’s consistently built year after year.”

When counting the number of games for which a GM has been on the job, it’s somewhat different than a coach or player, who are on the bench or on the ice for each and every one. With a GM, for example, Armstrong won’t be at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg when the Blues face the Jets. But much like his entire career, he’ll be on the clock, this time on a scouting trip.

“I don’t want to speak for his job, because I don’t know what it’s like, but there’s a lot that goes into it,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “There’s not many off days, and you have to really love what you do and love managing people. There’s going to be tough decisions along the way, but he’s done an incredible job. That’s a lot of games, and he’s been in St. Louis since what, 2008? I don’t know how many GMs around the league could say that.”

No one, in fact.

When David Poile, 73, retired as Nashville’s GM last June, Armstrong became the longest-tenured manager in the NHL. Winnipeg’s Kevin Cheveldayoff, who was hired by the Jets in 2011, is No. 2 in the league (918 games).

“It starts with the stability of ownership, and the Blues are a very stable organization,” Armstrong said. “What were they, 25 consecutive years in the playoffs? There’s not a lot of need for change. You knew you were going to a franchise and a fan base that expected a certain level of play. Being the longest-tenured manager with one organization, it’s a lot more important than 1,000 games. It’s having the trust of the (ownership) group for that long (that) means a ton for me.

“I think that working with John (Davidson) and Larry (Pleau), and now Mr. (Tom) Stillman believes this, too, you go through good and bad times with each other and you’re building trust. When I came here, they had been through tough times and we were able to build something special that lasted a long time and now we’re rebuilding. Usually, there’s not a Part 2 for a GM, and I’m very fortunate that Tom and his group have given me the opportunity to be part of a Part 2.”

The Blues have had just 11 full-time GMs in their history, excluding those who had second short-term stints on an interim basis.

Since 1976, they’ve had just five, including Emile Francis, Ron Caron, Mike Keenan, Pleau and Armstrong. Since 1997, they’ve had two (Pleau and Armstrong), which is the fewest of any team that’s been in the NHL the entirety of that span. Since 2010, they’ve had one (Armstrong), which is also the fewest of any team in the league.

“It’s that stability again,” Armstrong said. “When I worked for Larry, I felt comfortable asking him anything and he was wide open. When we flipped positions, nothing really changed. My door and his door were always open to each other. He’s an ultimate team person, and he was a big part of our championship window because A) he helped bring in a lot of those players and B) he was one of those pillars that we could always rely on.”

Armstrong, who passed Pleau (984) last season as the Blues’ longest-tenured GM, is now No. 3 among all active NHL GMs when including every club for which they’ve worked. He spent 377 games with Dallas, which will give him 1,377 when Tuesday’s game in Winnipeg begins.

No. 1 on the list is the New York Islanders’ Lou Lamoriello (2,760) and No. 2 is Edmonton’s Ken Holland (1,984).

Every season, the NHL publishes a guide and record book, in which the GMs are listed in order of seniority, and Armstrong joked: “I was on the back page for a long time and now I’m up near the top left corner.”

So far, Armstrong hasn’t been on the butt-end of any jokes from the fraternity about how long he’s been around.

“Not yet,” he said. “David (Poile) just left, and we gave him a lot of gears, but he was in it a lot longer than I have been and will be.”

It could also be because they don’t want to give the gears to someone who’s been so giving to them.

“Bob Clarke treated me fantastic, gave me my first job in hockey and then Bob Gainey,” Armstrong said. “I remember how well Harry Sinden and Glen Sather treated me when I came in. I’ve never forgotten how well they treated me and I try to pay it back to the younger guys because, when you walk into your first meeting and look around, it’s intimidating. I don’t care if you’re Joe Sakic or Steve Yzerman, when you walk into that room, it’s different. But what you find is how genuine the guys are. We all want to win, but we all want to make sure that we can help each other in areas that aren’t competitive.”

And Armstrong knows, too, what’s it like to lose a job, after being fired in Dallas in 2007.

“I say this because I truly believe it, ‘Every coach and manager, today is just one day closer to not being here,’” he said. “That’s the nature of the beast. You see how fragile these jobs can be.”

In fact, former NHL GM Doug Risebrough taught Armstrong something that he still tries to make a point of doing when a manager or coach is let go.

“When I got fired in Dallas, Doug told me, ‘Make sure you write down every name (of those who call you), so you can get back to them,’” Armstrong said. “Then he said, ‘The most interesting part is, check off the guys that call you twice.’ There’s not many, and I don’t blame them. They call and say, ‘Best of luck,’ and then everyone moves on with their lives. But then 7-10 days later, you’re there by yourself, and that’s when reality hits.

“I actually try to make it a point to call a couple of times to see how guys are doing. I’m not perfect at it, but I understand what they’re going through, so that’s something that I try to do.”

In the meantime, Armstrong keeps rolling along. With 3o more victories, he’ll eclipse 800 wins, which would make him the 11th GM in NHL history to reach the milestone in his career. With 770 wins, he is currently No. 14 on the list.

Poile (1,533) is No. 1, followed by Lamoriello (1,407), Sather (1,319), Sinden (1,170), Holland (1,097), Cliff Fletcher (953), Jim Rutherford (939), Jack Adams (913), Francis (839) and Clarke (806).

“I’d love to catch Clarke at one point,” Armstrong said. “You get to a point in your life where you’re looking for challenges and goals. The one thing about being a manager or coach, you can’t be successful at those jobs unless your team is good. You can be a Hall of Fame player and not be on great teams. You can’t be thought of as a great manager or great coach without being on good teams. That’s what I take a lot of pride in — being associated with good teams in the NHL and internationally.

“So, you know, 800 means a lot to me. But they just come; you can’t plan for them. But yeah, I would love to climb that ladder as quick as possible and get as high as I can because that means the team is having success on the ice.”

Here’s a list of NHL teams with the number of GMs they’ve had since 2010 (when Armstrong began his career with the Blues) and 1997 (when Pleau took over).

(Photo: Dave Sandford / NHLI via Getty Images)