Doug Armstrong, general manager of the NHL's St. Louis Blues. /CFP
Doug Armstrong, general manager of the NHL's St. Louis Blues, will be running the Canadian national ice hockey team in the 2022 Winter Olympics in the same position if the league's players are allowed to attend the event in Beijing, Hockey Canada announced on Wednesday.
Armstrong is no stranger to the job after he led Canada to win two Olympic gold medals in Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014, as well as the championship at the World Cup of Hockey at home in 2016.
In 2019, Armstrong helped the Blues make the Stanley Cup Finals 2019 and beat the Boston Bruins to win the title. He was also the GM of the NHL in the 2011-12 season.
Doug Armstrong, general manager of the St. Louis Blues, celebrates with the Stanley Cup after the team's 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, June 12, 2019. /CFP
The Canadian management team for the Winter Olympics also includes associate general manager Ken Holland of the Edmonton Oilers, assistant general manager Ron Francis of the Seattle Kraken (to join in the 2021-22 season), Roberto Luongo of the Florida Panthers, and Don Sweeney of the Boston Bruins.
The NHL had been sending its players to five straight Winter Olympics until PyeongChang in 2018. The league, the Players' Association, the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation have agreed to negotiate on whether to allow the NHL players to attend the Winter Olympic in 2022 and 2026, but before there's any agreement reached, USA Hockey will not name its management team, according to ESPN.
Moreover, the current 2020-21 NHL season started late because of the COVID-19 pandemic. If something similar happens to the next season, it will make things even more unpredictable.