Doug Armstrong: 'We're not picking an All-Star team' to play for Canada

Doug Armstrong wants Team Canada's roster to be well-rounded for the games in Beijing.

"We're not picking an All-Star team," the St. Louis Blues general manager and chosen architect for Canada's 2022 Olympic hockey squad said on Sportsnet 590 The Fan Thursday. "We have to have players that can touch every facet - penalty kill, power play, five-on-five play. "

Armstrong also said he'll need to ask some players to play outside of their traditional NHL positions.

"Hockey Canada has always had a belief that a centerman could go to the wing much easier than a winger can go to the center," he said. "If you look at the history of the national teams, there's always been centers that have to go over, and this will be no different.

"We're going to take the best players to make our team, but there will be people that are out of their natural position."

Armstrong was named Canada's GM on Wednesday. He built the Canadian roster for the 2016 World Cup, and the executive was part of Steve Yzerman's staff for the 2014 games in Sochi.

Ken Holland, Don Sweeney, and Ron Francis - the general managers of the Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, and Seattle Kraken, respectively - were selected to assist Armstrong.

Canada has won three of the five Olympic hockey tournaments with NHL players involved.

NHLers going to Beijing is still not guaranteed. The ongoing pandemic is a significant hurdle, and the league and players' association still need to come to an agreement with the IIHF and IOC to facilitate participation.

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