In less than two years, St. Louis Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong has seen six members of his hockey operations staff depart the organization for promotions with other clubs.
If six seems like a lot, that’s because it probably is. But Armstrong has handled all the changes in stride, knowing the promotions are a positive reflection of what the Blues have accomplished over the last decade.
Since the 2012-13 season, Armstrong’s Blues have the fifth-most wins in the regular season, reached the postseason in nine of the last 10 seasons and are tied for the sixth-most playoff wins in that stretch.
“When you have success as a team, people want to look at your organization and find out why,” Armstrong told stlouisblues.com. “Collectively, we’ve had that success and now our responsibility is to take that next wave of people and elevate them and give them the opportunity to take this franchise to an even higher level.”
In Sept. 2020, Blues Assistant General Manager and Director of Amateur Scouting Bill Armstrong was selected to become the general manager of the Arizona Coyotes. Since then, Director of Player Personnel Rob DiMaio has been named assistant general manager for the Anaheim Ducks, Assistant Coach Jim Montgomery was named head coach of the Boston Bruins, Springfield Thunderbirds General Manager and Pro Scout Kevin McDonald was hired as the assistant general manager for the Colorado Avalanche, Goalie Development Coach Dave Rogalski joined the New Jersey Devils as its goalie coach and amateur scout Garret Peters took a promotion as a global crossover scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Most of those departing names – like Bill Armstrong, DiMaio, McDonald and Rogalski – were key pieces in helping guide the Blues to its first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history in 2019.
“All of those guys had major impacts on our success,” Doug said. “We’ve been a stable franchise for the better part of a decade, and I think when teams are looking to change their fortunes, they go to teams that have had success (to do it).”
Other examples of Armstrong’s point have been visible throughout the sports landscape for decades. Teams with consistent championship pedigrees, such as the NFL’s New England Patriots, NBA’s San Antonio Spurs and the NCAA’s Alabama football program have seen coaches and front office staff get plucked for promotions elsewhere. The situation presents team managers with the continual challenge of not only putting a strong roster on the ice (or on…
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