St. Louis Blues' General Manager shares humbling quote on how much of this season he got to enjoy

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Cooper Godin
April 16, 2023 (11:16)

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The St. Louis Blues failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2018 after making some big changes to their roster leading up to the NHL's trade deadline in early March.

Among the moves made by General Manager Doug Armstrong was trading Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers and captain Ryan O'Reilly to the Toronto Maple Leafs, both of whom are set to become unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

During his final media availability of the 2022-23 season, Armstrong told reporters that there was 15 minutes, 66% of the year that he enjoyed, while coming home from the airport or arena, but next season he wants that feeling to go back up to 100%.

Armstrong also added that he feels like he didn't do enough to make the team competitive and that he let the fanbase down this season.

"There was about 15 minutes a night, 66 percent of the year that I loved, and that was driving home from the plane or driving home from the arena with a smile on my face knowing that tomorrow morning, I was either going to get a call from an agent who was going to yell at me that his player didn't get enough ice time, or I was going to have a player in my office telling me that the coach screwed him, but for that 15 minutes a night, 66 percent of the time, it was a great ride home. I didn't have nearly enough good rides home, and I want to get back to at least 15 minutes a night next year. It might not come in wins and losses, but there's too many nights I went home feeling like I let our fanbase down by not creating a team that was competitive enough, and that's on me." Armstrong said.

While Armstrong may feel that he didn't do enough to make the team competitive, it's hard for them to be competitive by trading away their two best players before the deadline. The Blues finished 14 points back of the Winnipeg Jets for the second and final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference and some big changes will be needed this summer in order to have a quick turnaround and potentially return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2024.