Canada GM Armstrong had 70% of Olympic roster set before NHL opt-out

Doug Armstrong's time as general manager of Canada's Olympic men's hockey team was cut short after the NHL confirmed players wouldn't be competing at the 2022 Beijing Games.

The 57-year-old executive, who also serves as general manager of the St. Louis Blues, stepped down from his post earlier on Wednesday, according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.

Armstrong revealed that he had 70% of Canada's roster set, per Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The full 25-man roster was going to be announced on Jan. 12.

"This last month was gonna be a big scouting month for all of us to round out the group and get our coaches involved," Armstrong told Thomas. "We probably had eight or nine more players to pick out of 14 or 15 (candidates). So it was getting down to the nitty-gritty."

Though Armstrong didn't get to see these Olympics through, he added that Canada's selection process "evolves (with) watching young players get better. It evolves with watching veteran players fight off Father Time."

While acknowledging that the NHL's decision to not send its players to the best-on-best tournament is disappointing, Armstrong said he understands the league's thinking.

"With the latest surge and the cancellation of games, the uncertainty of what's ahead of us - I certainly support and understand both the (NHL)PA and the league's decision," he said.

Armstrong also confirmed that Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby would have been named team captain, according to LeBrun.

"When we got our management staff named, the first decision we made was to reach out to Sidney and let him know that we would love him to be our captain; this was well over a year ago," Armstrong said.

Armstrong was named general manager of Canada's Olympic squad back in February.

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