CALGARY — Doug Armstrong will serve as general manager for Canada's men's hockey team at the 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.
The St. Louis Blues executive was named by Hockey Canada on Friday as part of a management team that also includes former Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf.
Armstrong helped guide the Blues to victory in the 2019 Stanley Cup final. He also won Olympic gold medals in 2010 and 2014 as a member of Canada's executive team before capturing the 2016 World Cup of Hockey as GM.
Getzlaf, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, will serve as player relations adviser.
The management team also includes Hockey Canada president/CEO Katherine Henderson, vice-president of hockey operations Scott Salmond and chief operating officer Pat McLaughlin.
Armstrong will oversee Team Canada at this year's world hockey championship in Czechia, the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2025 world championship (co-hosted by Sweden and Denmark), appointing and working with Canadian general managers and executives to help build the 2026 Olympic team.
“There is a wealth of experienced and successful Canadian executives throughout the NHL, and we believe Doug is the best person to lead our national men’s team and build our management groups from a talented pool of executives at each event leading up to and including the 2026 Olympics,” McLaughlin said.
“Doug and Ryan both bring accomplished careers and many years of NHL and international experience to Hockey Canada, and Scott has been instrumental in the success of Canada’s national teams at all levels for more than 20 years."
The 2026 Games will be the first Olympics with NHL participation since the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
The NHL went to the Games five times between 1998 and 2014 before skipping the 2018 event for financial reasons.
The league was set to return to the 2022 Olympics in Beijing but backed out because of COVID-19 concerns.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2024,
The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Ottawa was hosting the 2025 world hockey championships. Ottawa will host the 2025 world junior hockey championship.
