Colby Armstrong

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Position	Right Wing
Shoots	Right
Height Weight	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 187 lb (85 kg/13 st 5 lb)
NHL Team F. teams	Atlanta Thrashers Pittsburgh Penguins
Nationality	Canada
Born	November 23, 1982 (1982-11-23) (age 25), Lloydminster, SK
NHL Draft	21st overall, 2001 Pittsburgh Penguins
Pro career	2002 – present

Colby Joseph Armstrong (born on November 23, 1982 in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Atlanta Thrashers.

[edit] Early life

Armstrong grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in the city's northeastern neighbourhood of Erindale, where he continues to live in the off-season. He played youth hockey with the Saskatoon Redwings and the Saskatoon Blazers. Additionally, as a child he was a figure-skater. He, along with Edmonton Oilers forward Jarret Stoll attended St. Joseph High School in Saskatoon.

[edit] 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, he made his NHL debut, and had a superb rookie campaign, in which he played 47 games tallying 40 points (16G, 24A) and was a team-high plus-15.

Armstrong had three overtime goals for the Penguins in the 2006–07 season, beating Kari Lehtonen of Atlanta, Ed Belfour of Florida, and Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Armstrong avoided an arbitration hearing, in 2006–2007 off-season, by re-signing him to two year deal that pays 1.2 million dollars annually.^[1]

He has put several injury-inducing hits and checks on opponents over the past two years, some of which have been controversial, including those on Trevor Letowski, Jeff Carter, Saku Koivu, and Patrick Eaves. None of these hits resulted in ejection or other discipline by the league, and did not even result in penalties. There is some debate among hockey fans as to the cleanliness or legality of these hits.

Armstrong became very close friends with former teammate Sidney Crosby while playing for the Penguins.

He was a member of the 2007 Canadian 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.

Pittsburgh traded Armstrong on February 26, 2008 to the Atlanta Thrashers along with Angelo Esposito, Erik Christensen, and a first round pick in exchange for Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis.

His younger brother, Riley Armstrong, plays with the Worcester Sharks of the American Hockey League.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] References

• Colby Armstrong's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database