Former Wingham Ironmen star Aaron Armstrong has become a household name in local hockey circles, but that attention has never got to his head. After wearing the blue and gold for 5 years, the Teeswater native made the trip to the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference for his first year of College hockey.
He returned home with a rookie of the year award and was met with a surprise from his former junior club when he got back. A banner recognizing his contributions to the team will be on display at the North Huron Wescast Community Complex.
The spotlight began to shine on the centre-man after an 80 point season in 35 games during the 2011-12 Junior C season. It only got better from there with Armstrong scoring a now Western Junior C record 124 points in the '12/'13. He would follow up the record breaking season with 104 points the next season, capping off with a Western Junior C championship in 2014.
That title is the only stat Armstrong loves to talk about.
"The goals and the assists don't matter." He said. "The community support that year and the friends I had are very special to me."
A staggering 367 points over only 144 games in the regular season, Armstrong added another 94 points in 48 playoff games (including the Schmalz Cup). His numbers speak for themselves when putting him among the best players in Western Junior C history.
For everything Armstrong did, his name will now live forever at his home rink. At the Ironmen awards night, the team revealed the new banner that recognizes his time in Wingham.
"That caught me off guard." He said. "I was speechless and still feel so humbled by that type of recognition."
Armstrong says it is the support he received over his time in Wingham that made him want to continue playing competitive hockey.
"I had so many people encourage me and believe in me more than I believed in myself." Armstrong said. " It made me really think about looking at my options and try to play more hockey."
In his first year out west, Armstrong led his team in scoring with 16 goals and 23 assists over 30 games for Briercrest, a Christian college in Caronport, Saskatchewan. For his efforts he was named the ACAC Rookie of the Year.
Armstrong will return to Briercrest for the upcoming hockey season. One day he hopes to give back to Wingham.
"I bleed blue and gold so I just have to wait and see, I owe them a lot."
Aaron Armstrong banner that will be on display at the North Huron Wescast Community Complex