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26 Apr

Blog #6

Posted April 26, 2012 by acf101 in Uncategorized.

Alex Ferrario

Blog post

GM of the Year?

                Doug Armstrong of the St. Louis Blues has all but locked up the award for general manager of the year. For a team that was struggling to stay about water to turn around their season to be heading into the Semi-finals in the playoffs in only his second year is pretty incredible.

                Breaking down his time here is inspirational in itself, his first few months here he came to have a turn-around for the team. He traded for elite goaltender, Jaroslav Halak. He knew coming to this team that their ongoing, 45 year problem was goaltending. Making a trade for Halak showed the team that he was here for business. Next he began to unload useless salary. With the slogan of youth movement then it was time to put these into action. He shed struggling winger Brad Boyes and under-achieving captain Eric Brewer. Mostly to show the younger guys that it was time to grow and take control of the team. Also getting rid of Brewer gave David Backes his chance to take the lead of his squad.

                Next Armstrong realized that if this team wanted to take their game to the next level then they would need to bring in veteran leadership to guide the young players. So with the minimal bank role Armstrong had to work with. He went out and signed Jason Arnott, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Scott Nichol. All Stanley Cup winners and all veteran leaders.

                Then Armstrong placed it into the coach’s hand. After a scary start to the season, Former coach Davis Payne couldn’t take the reins of the team. So he took a blast to the past and brought in former work associate and friend Ken Hitchcock. Armstrong knew that Hitch knew how to run a championship team and to teach them his way.

                After all the changes the Blues had an elite season, finishing the season 3rd overall in the league. And if that didn’t grab the fans attention, then how about a playoff berth advancement to the second round? Yes, this team is not going to be the most elite in the league in a couple months. But they have shown the league that they will be a reckon to deal with for the next few years.

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