Doug Armstrong

Douglas Armstrong (born September 24, 1964) is the general manager for the NHL's St. Louis Blues. He is also a former general manager of the Dallas Stars.

Front office career

Dallas Stars

Armstrong joined the Dallas Stars organization in 1991, and was appointed as General Manager January 25, 2002. He won the Stanley Cup as an assistant general manager with the Stars in 1999. Armstrong replaced Bob Gainey as GM of the Stars with 32 games to go in the 2001-02 NHL season, and one of his first moves was hiring Dave Tippett as head coach. Armstrong is the son of NHL Hall of Fame linesman Neil Armstrong, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991.

On November 13, 2007, in the wake of a 7–7–3 start and a colossal meltdown by the team in Los Angeles (losing 6–5 in OT after leading 4–0 with 7 minutes remaining in the game), Doug Armstrong was relieved of his duties as the GM for the Stars and was replaced by former Stars player Brett Hull and assistant GM Les Jackson as interim co-GM's. During Armstrong's tenure, the Dallas Stars went 210–109–35–23. Some important moves Armstrong made during his time as GM of the Stars include the drafting of players like Trevor Daley, James Neal, Loui Eriksson and Jamie Benn. He also made a trade for Mike Ribeiro in exchange for Janne Niinimaa which turned out to be beneficial for Dallas' offence.

Joe Mullen

Joseph Patrick Mullen (born February 26, 1957) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins between 1980 and 1997. He was a member of three Stanley Cup championship teams, winning with the Flames in 1989 and the Penguins in 1991 and 1992. Mullen turned to coaching in 2000, serving as an assistant in Pittsburgh and briefly as head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He is currently an assistant with the Philadelphia Flyers.

An undrafted player, Mullen was an all-star for the Boston College Eagles before turning professional in the Blues' organization. He was named the Central Hockey League (CHL) rookie of the year in 1980 and most valuable player in 1981 as a member of the Salt Lake Golden Eagles. He won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most gentlemanly player on two occasions as a member of the Flames, as well as the NHL Plus-Minus Award. Mullen was named to the First All-Star Team in 1988–89 and played in three NHL All-Star Games.

Thumbs signal

A thumbs-up or thumbs-down is a common hand gesture achieved by a closed fist held with the thumb extended upward or downward in approval or disapproval, respectively. These gestures have become metaphors in English: "The audience gave the movie the thumbs-up" means that the audience approved of the movie, regardless of whether the gesture was actually made.

Origins

The source of the gesture is obscure, but a number of origins have been proposed.

Opposable thumbs

Carleton S. Coon, having observed Barbary apes in Gibraltar using the gesture, hypothesised in the anthropological classic The Story of Man that it is a mutual celebration of having opposable thumbs. Critics have suggested, however, that the apes may be simply imitating humans.

Ancient Rome

The Latin phrase pollice verso is used in the context of gladiatorial combat for a hand gesture used by Ancient Roman crowds to pass judgment on a defeated gladiator. However, the precise type of gesture described by the phrase pollice verso and its meaning are unclear in the historical and literary record.

2013

2013 (MMXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (dominical letter F) of the Gregorian calendar, the 2013th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 13th year of the 3rd millennium, the 13th year of the 21st century, and the 4th year of the 2010s decade.

2013 was designated as:

Events

January

February

Creative director

A creative director is a position often found within the graphic design, film, music, fashion, advertising, media or entertainment industries, but may be useful in other creative organizations such as web development and software development firms as well.

A creative director is a vital role in all of the arts and entertainment industries. In another sense, they can be seen as another element in any product development process. The creative director may also assume the roles of an art director, copywriter, or lead designer. The responsibilities of a creative director include leading the communication design, interactive design, and concept forward in any work assigned. For example, this responsibility is often seen in industries related to advertisement. The creative director is known to guide a team of employees with skills and experience related to graphic design, fine arts, motion graphics, and other creative industry fields. Some example works can include visual layout, brainstorming, and copy writing. Before one assumes the role of a creative director, one must have a preset of experience beforehand. Like anyone else, these types of artists start up from the very beginning in fields that can relate to motion graphics, advertisement in television, and/or book (or magazine) publishing.