The Blues have announced a four-year contract extension for general manager Doug Armstrong, with a club option for a fifth year.
"We are very pleased that we have one of the very best GMs in the business with us for an extended period of time, so he can continue his good work in building the team for current and future success," Blues owner Tom Stillman said during a news conference Wednesday at Scottrade Center.
Armstrong, currently in his 10th season with the club, originally joined the team as vice president of player personnel in 2008. Since taking over as GM in 2010, he has led the Blues to six consecutive postseason berths. He was named NHL general manager of the year in 2012 after leading the club to a 49-22-11 record and its first Central Division title in 12 years.
"Obviously there have been a number of very favorable trades that have worked out very well for us," Stillman said. "But I think it's more the consistency of our performance.
"We've been one of the top teams in the league for several years running now in regular-season play and in the number of playoff rounds _ making the playoffs for so many years in a row.
"Doug has been able to engineer that without mortgaging the future. Our stable of prospects is among the best in the league even while we've had this current success. I think that says a lot.
"I think also the way that Doug has made decisions that are not maybe decisions that some would make in a contract year. Looking for the long-term success and not necessarily going for it in the near term."
Armstrong, 53, was in the final year of his current contract but said he was never really concerned about the extension getting done.
"Tom and I had a conversation in September of a timeline that would take us into the December area," Armstrong said. "We had a chat in early December with the understanding that for both sides we'd like to see if we could get it concluded by the new year."
It was far from a protracted, complicated negotiation.
"We probably had _ what? _ four, five conversations of each conversation max about 10 or 15 minutes," Armstrong said. "Tom asked what was important to me, and also Tom had to do his due diligence on the marketplace. It wasn't that complicated once we got down to it."
On Dec. 23, while the Blues were in Vancouver finishing up a weeklong swing through western Canada, Stillman called with what Armstrong jokingly called "one final twist" in the negotiations. A twist which apparently made it a done deal.
"It was a great phone call to make, and then to be able to share that with my family at the holiday season was really special for us all," Armstrong said.
In a sport where change is constant, Stillman said having continuity in the general manager position and the front office in general was key.
"The general manager sets the tone for the entire hockey side of the operation," Stillman said. "And we will continue with the same philosophy, the same values, the same approach to winning and striving to win the ultimate championship."
