Riley Armstrong (ice hockey)

Riley Armstrong
Riley Armstrong playing for SaiPa in 2012.
Born November 8, 1984
Saskatoon, SK, CAN
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shoots Right
Allsvenkan Swe team
Former teams 		Vita Hasten
San Jose Sharks
Barys Astana
Augsburger Panther
SaiPa
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2004–present

Riley Armstrong (born November 8, 1984) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played two games with the San Jose Sharks during the 2008–09 NHL season. Armstrong is currently with Vita Hasten of the Allsvenkan Swe. Armstrong was born in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, but grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Amateur career

Riley attended Sacred Heart High School in Yorkton Sask for grade 11 and 12 while playing AAA Midget and also St. Joseph High School in Saskatoon along with his brother Colby Armstrong, who also played in the National Hockey League.

After playing minor hockey with the Saskatoon Redwings and figure skating out of Martensville and Saskatoon Figure Skating Club (coached by his mom Rosemary Armstrong), Riley left to play Midget AAA with the Yorkton Mallers where he scored 44 goals and 77 Points in 40 games and came 3rd in league scoring. Armstrong began playing for the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League (WHL) in the 2002–03 season, scoring 6 goals. He was then traded to the Everett Silvertips during the 2003–04 season in the WHL, scoring 18 goals.

Professional career

On September 15, 2004, he was signed as a free agent by the San Jose Sharks. 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 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 playing on a line with Jeremy Roenick and Jody Shelley.[1]

On July 2, 2009, Armstrong signed with the Calgary Flames.[2] He was then assigned to affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat. On March 3, 2010, Armstrong was traded to the Detroit Red Wings, linking up with their affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.[3] He joined the Utah Grizzlies in November 2010, playing in two games and recording two assists and four penalty minutes. He was signed by Barys Astana on November 21, 2010. In late 2010 on December 29, Armstrong was signed on to play with Augsburger Panther of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga for the remainder of the season.[4]

Armstrong was signed to a contract by the Elmira Jackals on October 8, 2011.[5] After seven games with the team, Armstrong was signed to a PTO contract by the Binghamton Senators on November 17, 2011.[6] He was later released back to Elmira on December 17.[7] Armstrong signed with Finnish team SaiPa 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 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.[8]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2002–03 Kootenay Ice WHL 65 6 10 16 69 10 0 1 1 14
2003–04 Everett Silvertips WHL 69 18 26 44 119 21 5 4 9 46
2004–05 Cleveland Barons AHL 70 8 11 19 117 — — — — —
2005–06 Cleveland Barons AHL 64 4 5 9 67 — — — — —
2006–07 Worcester Sharks AHL 73 19 17 36 108 6 0 1 1 12
2007–08 Worcester Sharks AHL 64 15 19 34 91 — — — — —
2008–09 Worcester Sharks AHL 71 25 17 42 101 12 3 10 13 46
2008–09 San Jose Sharks NHL 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2009–10 Abbotsford Heat AHL 38 11 8 19 55 — — — — —
2009–10 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 17 3 2 5 14 — — — — —
2010–11 Utah Grizzlies ECHL 2 0 2 2 4 — — — — —
2010–11 Barys Astana KHL 9 1 0 1 16 — — — — —
2010–11 Augsburger Panther DEL 17 5 3 8 40 — — — — —
2011–12 Elmira Jackals ECHL 9 3 4 7 14 — — — — —
2011–12 Binghamton Senators AHL 5 1 2 3 6 — — — — —
2011–12 SaiPa SM-l 12 2 3 5 32 — — — — —
2012–13 Utah Grizzlies ECHL 38 16 21 37 120 4 2 1 3 10
2012–13 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
NHL totals 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
AHL totals 404 86 81 167 561 18 3 11 14 58

References

  1. ↑ "Pavelski scores 2 in Sharks 3-2 win over Coyotes". Yahoo Sports. 2008-11-29. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
  2. ↑ "Flames sign Garth Murray, Riley Armstrong". Calgary Flames. 2009-07-02. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
  3. ↑ "Wings acquire Riley Armstrong". Detroit Red Wings. 2010-03-03. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
  4. ↑ "Panthers awarded the 11th foreigners licence; Riley Armstrong is from the KHL" (in German). Augsburger Panther. 2010-12-29. Retrieved 2011-03-15.
  5. ↑ "Jackals add Cousineau, Armstrong prior to home preseason contest". Elmira Jackals. 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2011-10-08.
  6. ↑ "B-Sens Announce Roster Moves". Binghamton Senators. 2011-11-17. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
  7. ↑ "B-SENS RECALL GOALTENDER STEWART, RELEASE FORWARD ARMSTRONG". Binghamton Senators. 2011-12-17. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
  8. ↑ "Landshut announces new additions" (in German). EV Landshut. 2013-07-19. Retrieved 2013-07-27.

External links