St. Louis Blues’ executive Doug Armstrong has been named General Manager for Team Canada’s men’s national team for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Currently serving as the Blues President of Hockey Operations and GM, Armstrong will be the architect for Canada’s return to best on best international hockey, culminating in Milan, Italy two years from now.
“I’ve been fortunate to work with great people in Hockey Canada for a number of years, starting with Bob Nicholson and Steve Yzerman going to the Olympics all the way through, and we understand the challenges ahead of us,” Armstrong said. “We understand that hockey has never been stronger across the globe and the competition is going to be great. We can’t guarantee victory but we can guarantee the work ethic and the thought process that will go behind not only the Olympic Games in 2026, but the tournaments leading up to that will be paramount and we’ll put a product on the ice that all Canadians can be proud of.”
The 2026 games will mark the first time NHL players will take part in an Olympic tournament since 2014. In addition to Armstrong, former Anaheim Duck forward Ryan Getzlaf has been tabbed as a player relations advisor for the Canadian side.
“This is an opportunity of a lifetime for myself to grow in the game and learn and get Canada back to where I know they will be,” Getzlaf said. “Going into this my mindset is to try and bridge the gap between player and management and that’s something that I have a great deal of confidence in, in the fact that I’ve been doing it for a long time as a captain of an NHL hockey club.”
“I’ve been fortunate enough to play for Canada at many different levels and understand what the success is and what it means to put on that jersey each and every time you do. I’m really looking forward to this opportunity.”
Armstrong and Getzlaf will use the upcoming 4 Nations Cup, and IIHF World Championships as “testing grounds” to see the combinations of players that work best at the international level. The return to the Olympics also provides hockey fans with the opportunity to see superstars such as Connor McDavid represent Canada at the Men’s senior national level for the first time as well.
Photo: Fanny Schertzer. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.