QUEBEC CITY — Six days ago, Riley Armstrong was driving to State College, Pennsylvania to watch Flyers prospect and Notre Dame forward Cole Knuble play against Penn State.
After the games Friday and Saturday, he drove home and caught AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley's matchup Sunday against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
On Monday, he flew to Toronto and, finally, then Quebec City, arriving at 11 p.m. ET. His flight out of Toronto was delayed because of the overturned Delta Air Lines plane.
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At 8:30 a.m. ET Tuesday, he was on a team bus to go help coach the Flyers' peewees.
"I guess I was born to be on the ice," Armstrong said.
Indeed.
The Flyers' director of player development didn't have to come to frigid and snowy Quebec City. But he had many reasons for why he did.
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Armstrong had worked with the Flyers' 12-year-olds before their trip to the historic Quebec International Peewee Hockey Tournament. He wanted to see it through.
"As the director of player development for the NHL team, he knows how to work with young players and he has been out with us for practices, he has been out for our minicamps," team leader Rob Baer said last week. "He's really good with the kids. So when he said to us, 'Hey, I have time in my schedule to go to Quebec,' it was like an immediate, 'Yes, absolutely, we'll find you a room, we'll add you to the roster, we'll figure it all out.' Riley's a guy that you want around."
Meanwhile, Armstrong's 9-year-old son Ezra plays for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms youth program, on a team that Armstrong coaches and his wife Amber manages. So getting a glimpse of the tournament was good experience for down the road.
"Kind of just seeing the landscape of USA hockey and hockey in the Philadelphia area," Armstrong said Tuesday. "We play out of Lehigh Valley and just seeing the teams and kind of the flow of the whole thing, seeing how it works. And then just helping out and growing the game. I really do feel I'm developing the next Philadelphia Flyer, but also giving back to the area and also the community and helping grow hockey in the whole district."
While Armstrong is here, he can also handle his director of player development duties. He plans on visiting Flyers prospects Spencer Gill and Matteo Mann, both of whom play in the QMJHL. He'll also connect with Flyers player development coach Samuel Morin, who is based out of Quebec.
"I do a lot of coaching, but it's fun," Armstrong said. "I absolutely love being on the ice. I like getting on the ice with the prospects for the Flyers, the Phantoms, even when I travel around and watch our recent draft picks, just going on the ice with them and hanging out."
One would think Danny Briere had no problem with Armstrong making the trip. The Flyers' general manager is from Quebec and two of his sons once played in the tournament.
"For him, it's pretty cool to see the tournament still going," Armstrong said. "He's a celebrity around these parts, too."
Armstrong was behind the bench for the Flyers' tournament game Tuesday and their exhibition matchup Wednesday, the final game action of the trip. Afterward, the peewees thanked Armstrong and the coaches.
"He originally wasn't planning to join us on the trip, but the more he was around the team, around the staff, he really started to get into it and wanted to be a part of it," Baer said. "We're glad we got him hooked."