Former Flyers and Oilers Captain Smith and AHL Veteran Armstrong Join Phantoms Staff
August 2, 2021
Lehigh Valley, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms, proud American Hockey League affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, are excited to announce the additions of Riley Armstrong and Jason Smith as the team’s assistant coaches to serve alongside recently named head coach Ian Laperriere. Additionally, Jake Rogers has been named Assistant Equipment Manager with the Phantoms.
Jason Smith, 47, is a veteran of over 1,000 NHL games with the New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators. The rugged defenseman scored 41 goals with 128 assists for 169 career points while accumulating 1,099 penalty minutes.
Smith was captain of the Edmonton Oilers for five seasons and with the Philadelphia Flyers for one year in 2007-08. He helped guide the Oilers in their surprising run to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals. Two seasons later, he sparked a rejuvenated Flyers team to a record of 42-29-11 and an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Calgary, Alta. native was an assistant coach with the Ottawa Senators for two seasons from 2014-16 and then was head coach of the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL for three years followed by his most recent stint as an associate coach with the Prince George Cougars of the WHL for the past two years.
Riley Armstrong, 36, was the first head coach for the new Maine Mariners of the ECHL and guided the team to a record of 69-58-7 in his two seasons at the helm. He also was promoted to assistant general manager for his second season with the team working alongside Mariners general manager Danny Briere.
Armstrong had previously served as assistant coach of the Wheeling Nailers in the ECHL from 2016-18. A product of Saskatoon, Sask. Armstrong played 12 seasons of professional hockey including 404 games in the American Hockey League scoring 86 goals and 81 assists for 167 career points. Most of his AHL playing days were with the Cleveland Barons and Worcester Sharks. He also played in two games in the NHL with the San Jose Sharks in 2008-09. He ended his professional playing career in 2015-16 with the Reading Royals where he played in 26 games.
Jake Rogers, 29, is a Portland, Maine native who has been equipment manager and assistant equipment manager with the Maine Mariners since 2018.
Opening Weekend for the Phantoms is Saturday, October 23 and Sunday, October 24 with games against the Hartford Wolf Pack and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins back-to-back.
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