In less than two years, St. Louis Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong has seen six members of his hockey operations staff depart the organization for promotions with other clubs.
If six seems like a lot, that’s because it probably is. But Armstrong has handled all the changes in stride, knowing the promotions are a positive reflection of what the Blues have accomplished over the last decade.
Since the 2012-13 season, Armstrong’s Blues have the fifth-most wins in the regular season, reached the postseason in nine of the last 10 seasons and are tied for the sixth-most playoff wins in that stretch.
“When you have success as a team, people want to look at your organization and find out why,” Armstrong told stlouisblues.com. “Collectively, we’ve had that success and now our responsibility is to take that next wave of people and elevate them and give them the opportunity to take this franchise to an even higher level.”
In Sept. 2020, Blues Assistant General Manager and Director of Amateur Scouting Bill Armstrong was selected to become the general manager of the Arizona Coyotes. Since then, Director of Player Personnel Rob DiMaio has been named assistant general manager for the Anaheim Ducks, Assistant Coach Jim Montgomery was named head coach of the Boston Bruins, Springfield Thunderbirds General Manager and Pro Scout Kevin McDonald was hired as the assistant general manager for the Colorado Avalanche, Goalie Development Coach Dave Rogalski joined the New Jersey Devils as its goalie coach and amateur scout Garret Peters took a promotion as a global crossover scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Most of those departing names – like Bill Armstrong, DiMaio, McDonald and Rogalski – were key pieces in helping guide the Blues to its first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history in 2019.
“All of those guys had major impacts on our success,” Doug said. “We’ve been a stable franchise for the better part of a decade, and I think when teams are looking to change their fortunes, they go to teams that have had success (to do it).”
Other examples of Armstrong’s point have been visible throughout the sports landscape for decades. Teams with consistent championship pedigrees, such as the NFL’s New England Patriots, NBA’s San Antonio Spurs and the NCAA’s Alabama football program have seen coaches and front office staff get plucked for promotions elsewhere. The situation presents team managers with the continual challenge of not only putting a strong roster on the ice (or on the field), but also of identifying the right individuals to help the organization move forward in the front office.
Armstrong has worked quickly to fill the voids. Here are some of the newcomers he’s hired and what he had to say about each:
Peter Chiarelli, who was named Vice President of Hockey Operations in Sept. 2021 and previously served as the General Manager of the Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers: “Peter brings a wealth of experience. He’s been the general manager of a Stanley Cup champion, general manager of a team that went to the Final another time and the general manager of a Presidents’ Trophy-winning team. He has, I think, 13 years as a manager, so he’s got a lot of experience. He’s someone that has seen a lot and we’re able to bounce ideas off of.”
Scott Mellanby, who was named Senior Advisor to the General Manager in July and spent nine seasons as the Assistant General Manager for the Montreal Canadiens. He also played 21 seasons in the NHL – including four with the Blues: “Scott Mellanby is someone that has touched every aspect of pro hockey, from a player to a coach to a scout to an assistant general manager. He’s a real gem for us to bring in here. He’s got strong ties to our community, but more importantly, he’s a great hockey guy and someone that we can really rely on as we try to build this organization for success over the next decade.”
Craig MacTavish, who replaces Montgomery behind the bench. MacTavish has more than 10 years of coaching experience, worked as a general manager in Edmonton and crafted a 17-year playing career that included four Stanley Cup championships and two seasons with the Blues: “MacT is obviously a hockey lifer, sort of a Scott Mellanby in the sense that he has made a little more experienced as a head coach and general manager. He touched every aspect of an organization and is maybe one of the most positive people I’ve met. His outlook is that it’s always a sunny day, and he brings a wealth of experience. I think it’s great for young coaches that want to become head coaches like (Steve) Ott and (Mike) Van Ryn to have someone like Craig Berube there to learn from, but also someone like MacT there to see how he responds to certain things. There’s a lot of downtime on the road – coffees and dinners to talk about his experiences – and I think it’s going to really benefit those guys as they try to expand their horizons to become head coaches.”
Tim Taylor first joined the Blues in 2011 as the Director of Player Development and has recently been promoted to DiMaio’s prior role as Director of Player Personnel. “Tim’s evolution, I think he’s one of the top young minds in hockey. I’m excited to have him take a bigger role. He’s a workaholic, which is very important in that job. I think he has manager qualities in the future and as I talked about with MacT having the ability to mentor Van Ryn and Ott, I think that Chiarelli and Mellanby now have the opportunity to help Tim grow.”
With the exception of replacing McDonald as the general manager of the Springfield Thunderbirds, the Blues’ hockey operations staff appears to be in place for the 2022-23 season.
“That was a lot of guys to lose over a short amount of time but we take a lot of pride in the fact that we’re obviously hiring good people and those people are getting that recognition,” Doug said. “What we’re trying to do is not be top-heavy, but what we want to do is be strong in all these areas and having all these people whose experiences will only help us. We’re all focused on helping make sure the Blues are successful year in and year out.”
