Penguins Notebook: Former Penguin a media 'Army'

Thursday, May 29, 2008
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Matt Freed/Post-Gazette

Maxime Talbot goes to the ice to try and take the puck from Detroit's Mikael Samuelsson.

There's no question Colby Armstrong dreamed of being part of a Stanley Cup final at Mellon Arena.

He just always figured he'd do it with a number on his back, not a media credential around his neck.

But Armstrong, a key component in the package the Penguins sent to Atlanta for Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis at the Feb. 26 trade deadline, served as a TV analyst, not a heart-and-soul right winger, for Game 3 of the final between the Penguins and Detroit last night at Mellon Arena.

Rogers Sportsnet, a Canadian network, hired him to provide insights on the Penguins, which put Armstrong in the position of analyzing players with whom he was sharing a locker room little more than three months ago.

"I woke up this morning thinking, 'What am I doing here?' " Armstrong said yesterday. "It's definitely a little weird. But at the same time, it's good to see a lot of [familiar] faces."

Armstrong did not venture into the locker room, where a stall bore his name until late February, after the morning skate, saying that "I'm just kind of staying away."

He did, however, have a warm greeting for Sidney Crosby, a close friend, after Crosby fielded questions from reporters in the formal interview area between the home and visiting rooms.

Armstrong joked about how he will fare in his new role ("Hopefully, I cannot say anything stupid") and how much camera time he is expecting ("Hopefully, not that much, unless they have a good makeup person"), but acknowledged that he might be interested in TV work when his playing days are over.

"It's a good experience for me, a good opportunity to try something like this," he said, adding that "I think I have a couple of years [as a player] left in me."