Colby Joseph Armstrong (born on November 23 1982 in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Atlanta Thrashers. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft as the 21st pick overall. In the 2005–06 season, he made his NHL debut, and had a superb rookie campaign, in which he played 47 games tallying 40 points (16G, 24A) and was a team-high plus-15.
Armstrong grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where he continues to live in the off-season. He played youth hockey with the Saskatoon Redwings and the Saskatoon Blazers. Additionally, as a child he was a figure-skater. He, along with Edmonton Oilers forward Jarret Stoll attended St. Joseph High School in Saskatoon. His younger brother, Riley Armstong, plays with the Worcester Sharks of the American Hockey League. He is featured prominently in the DVD series "Chasing The Dream", which followed the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL during the 2002–2003 season. Perhaps the most memorable sequence depicts Armstrong along with teammate Shane Endicott, MTV "Cribs"-style, at their very messy apartment in the Green Acres complex, in Kingston, Pennsylvania.
Armstrong had three overtime goals for the Penguins in the 2006–07 season, beating Kari Lehtonen of Atlanta, Ed Belfour of Florida, and Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Armstrong avoided an arbitration hearing, in 2006-2007 offseason, by re-signing him to two year deal that pays 1.2 million dollars annually .
He has put several injury-inducing hits and checks on opponents over the past two years, some of which have been controversial, including those on Trevor Letowski, Jeff Carter, Saku Koivu, and Patrick Eaves. None of these hits resulted in ejection or other discipline by the league, and did not even result in penalties. There is some debate among hockey fans as to the cleanliness or legality of these hits.
He was a member of the 2007 Canadian IIHF World Championship-winning team. His only goal of the tournament was the game-winning goal in the gold medal game against Finland in Moscow, which Canada won 4-2.
Pittsburgh traded Armstrong on February 26, 2008 to the Atlanta Thrashers along with Angelo Esposito, Erik Christensen and a 1st round pick in exchange for Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis.
