Riley Armstrong (born November 8, 1984) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

coach and a former player. He is currently the director of player development

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

since 2023. He played two games with the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

of the

(NHL) as a forward during the 2008–09 season.

Playing career

Amateur

Armstrong was born in

Lloydminster Lloydminster is a city in Canada which has the unusual geographic distinction of straddling the provincial border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city is incorporated by both provinces as a single city with a single municipal administra ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, but grew up in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

. He attended Sacred Heart High School in Yorkton, Saskatchewan for grade 11 and 12 while playing AAA Midget, and also St. Joseph High School in Saskatoon with his brother Colby Armstrong, who also played in the NHL. After playing minor hockey with the Saskatoon Redwings (and figure skating out of Martensville and Saskatoon Figure Skating Club, coached by his mother Rosemary), Armstrong left to play Midget AAA with the Yorkton Mallers, where he scored 44 goals and 77 points in 40 games, finishing 3rd in league scoring. Armstrong began playing for the Kootenay Ice of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

(WHL) in the 2002–03 season, scoring 6 goals. He was then traded to the

Everett Silvertips The Everett Silvertips are an American major junior ice hockey team based in Everett, Washington. The team plays in the U.S. Division of the Western Conference of the Western Hockey League (WHL), and hosts games at Angel of the Winds Arena. Th ...

during the 2003–04 season, scoring 18 goals.

Professional

On September 15, 2004, he was signed as a free agent by the

. Armstrong was immediately sent down to the Cleveland Barons for two seasons, scoring a combined 12 goals. Armstrong spent the next three years with new Sharks affiliate, the

Worcester Sharks The Worcester Sharks were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2006 to 2015. Affiliated with the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks and located in Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachu ...

before he made his NHL debut in the 2008-09 season with San Jose on November 29, 2008, in a 3–2 win over the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

playing on a line with

Jeremy Roenick Jeremy Shaffer Roenick ( ; born January 17, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 8th overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft by the Chica ...

and Jody Shelley. On July 2, 2009, Armstrong signed with the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

. He was then assigned to its affiliate, the

Abbotsford Heat The Abbotsford Heat were a professional ice hockey team that played five seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL) between 2009 and 2014. The team was based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, and played its home games at the 7,046-seat A ...

. On March 3, 2010, Armstrong was traded to the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

, linking up with their affiliate, the

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional ice hockey team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL), playing their home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of t ...

. He joined the

Utah Grizzlies The Utah Grizzlies are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Franchise history The current Utah Grizzlies franchise started in 1981 as the Nashville South Stars i ...

in November 2010, playing in two games and recording two assists and four penalty minutes. He was signed by

Barys Astana Hockey Club Barys ( ), also referred to as Barys Astana or HC Barys, is a professional ice hockey club based in Astana, Kazakhstan. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). It is one of the founding members ...

on November 21, 2010. In late 2010 on December 29, Armstrong was signed on to play with

Augsburger Panther The Augsburger Panther are a professional ice hockey team in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, DEL. The team is based in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. They play their home games at the Curt Frenzel Stadion. Founded in 1878, the team's name was Augsburge ...

of the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

for the remainder of the season. Armstrong was signed to a contract by the Elmira Jackals on October 8, 2011. After seven games with the team, Armstrong was signed to a PTO contract by the

Binghamton Senators The Binghamton Senators were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2002 to 2017. Nicknamed the B-Sens, they played in Binghamton, New York, at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. The B-Sens w ...

on November 17, 2011. He was later released back to Elmira on December 17. Armstrong signed with Finnish team

SaiPa SAIPA (, ''SAIPA'') is an Iranian automaker headquartered in Tehran. The SAIPAC (an acronym for the French ''Société anonyme iranienne de production des automobiles Citroën'' lit. ''Iranian Limited Company for the Production of Citroën Autom ...

on December 25, 2011, and finished the season with the team. Without a contract extension offer from SaiPa, Armstrong had an unsuccessful try-out with

HC Ambrì-Piotta Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta is a Swiss professional ice hockey club and a member of the National League (NL). The club was founded September 19, 1937, and is also known as "Bianco-Blu" (English: white and blues). Though they have never won the leagu ...

of the Swiss NLA before returning to the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL for the commencement of the 2012–13 season where he was captain of the Grizzlies. On July 19, 2013, Armstrong signed as a free agent to return to Europe on a one-year contract with German club, EV Landshut of the DEL2. Following another season in Europe in Sweden and Germany with

HC Vita Hästen HC Vita Hästen is a Swedish hockey club, based in Norrköping, which was founded following the bankruptcy of a previous club called IK Vita Hästen. The team plays in HockeyTrean, the fifth tier of the Swedish ice hockey system, as of the 202 ...

and Heilbronner Falken respectively, Armstrong returned as a free agent for a third stint with the Utah Grizzlies, signing a one-year contract on August 4, 2015. Prior to the 2015–16 season, Armstrong was placed on waivers by the Grizzlies and was claimed by the Reading Royals on October 11, 2015.

Coaching career

Armstrong ended his playing career in 2016, opting to pursue a career in coaching. On August 31, 2016, he was announced as the new assistant coach for the

Wheeling Nailers The Wheeling Nailers are a professional ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey Lea ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

under head coach Jeff Christian. On February 17, 2018, he was announced as the inaugural head coach of the Maine Mariners of the ECHL. Over his first two seasons as head coach, he led the team to a 69–58–7 record. The Mariners then sat out the 2020–21 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In August 2021, he joined the

' coaching staff as an assistant with their

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) affiliate, the

Lehigh Valley Phantoms The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are a professional ice hockey team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The team competes in the American Hockey League (AHL) and serves as the primary development team for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey Le ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Riley 1984 births Living people Abbotsford Heat players Augsburger Panther players Barys Astana players Binghamton Senators players Canadian ice hockey right wingers Cleveland Barons (2001–2006) players Elmira Jackals (ECHL) players Everett Silvertips players EV Landshut players Grand Rapids Griffins players Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players Ice hockey people from Saskatoon Kootenay Ice players Reading Royals players SaiPa players San Jose Sharks players Undrafted National Hockey League players Utah Grizzlies (ECHL) players Worcester Sharks players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States 21st-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland