Colby Armstrong Resigns with Atlanta Thrashers

One can bet that somewhere in Russia Ilya Kovalchuk is enthusiastically applauding the latest off- season move made by his Atlanta Thrashers. Heading into the summer Kovalchuk who has been the face of the franchise being drafted first overall in 2001 made it clear to management that he wanted to see them make some moves this off- season before he would commit to signing a contract extension. This 26 year-old who has participated in only four playoff games since breaking into the NHL back in 2001/02, definitely got management’s attention as they have gone out this summer and signed a big forward in Nic Antropov who is a big strong forward coming off a 28 goal season with the Toronto Maple Leafs/New York Rangers. Other moves have included re-signing their young and up and coming goaltender Kari Lehtonen who went 19-22-3 last year and just recently resigning restricted free agent forward Colby Amstrong who at 26 years of age is just hitting his prime. Even though this signing won’t exactly make the Thrashers Stanley Cup contenders next spring, it will provide lots of character and sandpaper to a team that is hoping to surprise the critics this coming season in competing for a playoff spot. Armstrong who is known for delivering solid body checks is coming off a career season that saw him set a career high of 22 goals. Originally he was chosen by the Pittsburgh first round (21st overall) in the 2001 draft and came to the Thrashers in a trade deadline deal in 2008. Right from his first game in a Thrashers uniform Armstrong became popular in Atlanta as he went on to score 11 points in the remaining 18 games of that season. This year the Lloydminster Saskatchewan native who tied a career best of 40 points also enjoyed a career high seven game point streak starting March 21 and going until April 5 when during that time he registered 10 points (3 goals and 7 assists). Since being traded Armstrong has scored an impressive 51 points (26 goals and 25 assists) in only 100 games in Atlanta. Prior to being drafted Armstrong who is known for his strong skating skills was known to be a pure point producer. During his time with Red Deer and Saskatoon of the Western Hockey League this 6 foot 2 195 pound forward registered 185 points (76 goals) in only 205 games. Overall since coming to the NHL Armstrong has scored 149 points (63 goals) in a total of 281 games played. Armstrong’s value to Atlanta goes much further than scoring goals. He has that ability to stick up for teammates on the ice and change the momentum of a hockey game by throwing solid hits. He is just coming into own now and will play a huge roll this coming season in helping Atlanta get back to respectability in their pursuit of post season play.