Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Bill Armstrong Named GM Of The Arizona Coyotes

09/17/2020 at 12:07pm EDT

GLENDALE, ARIZONA --- Arizona Coyotes Owner, Chairman & Governor Alex Meruelo announced today that Bill Armstrong has been named as the Coyotes' new General Manager. Armstrong joins the Coyotes from the St. Louis Blues, where he served as the club's Assistant General Manager/Director of Amateur Scouting the past two years and was instrumental in building the Blues team that won the 2019 Stanley Cup. Armstrong becomes the tenth general manager in franchise history. As per Club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

"We are thrilled to name Bill as our new GM," said Meruelo. "Bill is smart, honest and hard-working and he knows how to build a winning team. He brings the right mix of hockey knowledge, business acumen and leadership qualities that we need in order to achieve our goal of bringing a Stanley Cup to Arizona."

"We are very excited to welcome Bill to the Coyotes as our new General Manager," said Coyotes' President & CEO Xavier Gutierrez. "We were extremely impressed with his experience, vast hockey knowledge, great ability to assess talent, and his tremendous draft record. Bill is a proven winner who has a strong work ethic and is a good communicator. He is a man of integrity and we are confident that he's the right person to build a winning culture here and lead our hockey operations department into the future."

"I am extremely grateful to Mr. Meruelo, Alex Meruelo Jr., and Xavier Gutierrez for this opportunity," said Coyotes' General Manager Bill Armstrong. "We have great ownership that is committed to winning, a very good core group of young, talented players, and a passionate fan base. I'm excited about our future and the opportunity to build this team into a perennial playoff contender."

Armstrong, 50, joined the Blues in July of 2004 as an amateur scout and in August of 2010, he was named as the club's Director of Amateur Scouting. On August 28, 2018, he was promoted to the assistant general manager position while maintaining his duties as director of amateur scouting.

In addition to assisting the Blues' general manager in hockey operations decisions, Armstrong oversaw the team's participation in the NHL Draft. In the seven years since he took over as director, Armstrong orchestrated the selections of numerous talented players including Jordan Binnington, Jake Allen, Joel Edmundson, Robby Fabbri, Colton Parayko and Robert Thomas, all of whom played roles in the Blues capturing the 2019 Stanley Cup.

Prior to joining the Blues, Armstrong spent six seasons as a coach in the American Hockey League (AHL) and East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). He began as an assistant coach with the AHL's Providence Bruins in 1998, helping lead the Bruins to the 1999 Calder Cup Championship. Armstrong was named the head coach of Providence prior to the start of the 2000-01 season, a position he held for two seasons (2000-02). In his first season (2000-01), he led the Bruins to the best start in team history (16-4-1-2) and was named head coach of the Planet USA All-Star Team. Following his stint in Providence, Armstrong spent two seasons (2002-04) as the head coach of the Trenton Titans of the ECHL.

A native of Richmond Hill, Ontario, Armstrong played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and won the Memorial Cup with the Oshawa Generals in 1990. Drafted in the third round (46th overall) by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1990, Armstrong played nine seasons in the AHL and the International Hockey League (IHL), appearing in 543 games and collecting 74 points (10 goals, 64 assists) and 1,443 penalty minutes.

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About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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