Derek Armstrong

Derek Armstrong (born April 23, 1973) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. Armstrong played in the National Hockey League, where he played for the New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and the St. Louis Blues.

Playing career Derek Armstrong spent the majority of his NHL career with the Los Angeles Kings. After being taken by the New York Islanders in the sixth round, 128th overall of the 1992 NHL entry draft, Armstrong finally played his first full NHL campaign in the 2002–03 season, after having spent eight years playing both in the minors and the NHL, with the Islanders, Ottawa Senators, New York Rangers and finally the Kings. Most of his non-NHL stints were in the two "AAA" North American development leagues: American Hockey League and International Hockey League.

Due to the NHL lockout, as some NHL players did, Armstrong went to Europe, to play hockey in the Swiss National League A, for SC Rapperswil-Jona, totaling 17 points in only 12 games. Statistically, his best season was the 2006–07 campaign when he had 44 points for seventh place in Kings' points that year.

Armstrong signed with the St. Louis Blues on September 8, 2009, where he finished his final pro season playing for his former LA King coach, Andy Murray.

Coaching career On April 11, 2012, Armstrong was named head coach of the Denver Cutthroats of the Central Hockey League. Despite his NHL career, he is best known in Denver for being part of the Denver Grizzlies' 1994-95 Turner Cup championship in the team's only season in Denver (though they later moved to Salt Lake City and become the Utah Grizzlies, the team's success is widely credited for attracting the Quebec Nordiques to Denver that following offseason, where they became the Colorado Avalanche). After two seasons with the Denver Cutthroats as head coach, Armstrong was then appointed as team president. The team suspended operations in 2014 and finally folded permanently one year later when the league ceased operations.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1989–90 Hawkesbury Hawks CJHL 48 8 10 18 30 — — — — — 1990–91 Hawkesbury Hawks CJHL 54 27 45 72 49 — — — — — 1990–91 Sudbury Wolves OHL 2 0 2 2 0 — — — — — 1991–92 Sudbury Wolves OHL 66 31 54 85 22 9 2 2 4 2 1992–93 Sudbury Wolves OHL 66 44 62 106 56 14 9 10 19 26 1993–94 Salt Lake Golden Eagles IHL 76 23 35 58 61 — — — — — 1993–94 New York Islanders NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1994–95 Denver Grizzlies IHL 59 13 18 31 65 6 0 2 2 0 1995–96 Worcester IceCats AHL 51 11 15 26 33 4 2 1 3 0 1995–96 New York Islanders NHL 19 1 3 4 14 — — — — — 1996–97 Utah Grizzlies IHL 17 4 8 12 10 6 0 4 4 4 1996–97 New York Islanders NHL 50 6 7 13 33 — — — — — 1997–98 Detroit Vipers IHL 10 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 1997–98 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 54 16 30 46 40 15 2 6 8 22 1997–98 Ottawa Senators NHL 9 2 0 2 9 — — — — — 1998–99 New York Rangers NHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1998–99 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 59 29 51 80 73 7 5 4 9 10 1999–2000 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 77 28 54 82 101 23 7 16 23 24 1999–2000 New York Rangers NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2000–01 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 75 32 69 101 73 5 0 6 6 6 2000–01 New York Rangers NHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2001–02 SC Bern NLA 44 17 36 53 62 6 3 5 8 8 2002–03 Manchester Monarchs AHL 2 3 0 3 4 — — — — — 2002–03 Los Angeles Kings NHL 66 12 26 38 30 — — — — — 2003–04 Los Angeles Kings NHL 57 14 21 35 33 — — — — — 2004–05 Genève–Servette HC NLA 9 6 7 13 18 — — — — — 2004–05 SC Rapperswil–Jona NLA 3 1 3 4 4 — — — — — 2005–06 Los Angeles Kings NHL 62 13 28 41 46 — — — — — 2006–07 Los Angeles Kings NHL 67 11 33 44 62 — — — — — 2007–08 Los Angeles Kings NHL 77 8 27 35 63 — — — — — 2008–09 Los Angeles Kings NHL 56 5 4 9 63 — — — — — 2009–10 St. Louis Blues NHL 6 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2009–10 Peoria Rivermen AHL 46 17 19 36 21 — — — — — NHL totals 477 72 149 221 355 — — — — — AHL totals 364 136 238 374 345 54 16 33 49 62

Awards and honours Award Year AHL Second All-Star Team 1999–2000 Jack A. Butterfield Trophy - Calder Cup Playoffs MVP 1999–2000 AHL First All-Star Team 2000–01 John B. Sollenberger Trophy - AHL Top Scorer 2000–01 Les Cunningham Award - AHL Most Valuable Player 2000–01 CHL Coach of the Year 2013–14