Drew Bannister has resigned as coach of the St. Louis Blues after less than a full calendar year. Jim Montgomery is back on the bench of an NHL team five days after being released by the Boston Bruins.
The Blues fired Bannister on Sunday and hired Montgomery as his replacement, a stunning move a quarter of the way through the NHL season that puts a veteran coach in charge of guiding St. Louis through a period of restructuring and into the NHL's potential reopening. Organization participation window.
President and general manager Doug Armstrong said he didn't expect a change until Montgomery became a free agent.
“This was an opportunity more than anything to bring in someone of Jim’s caliber,” Armstrong said in a video call with reporters. “When I spoke to Drew today, I told him that this was more of a decision based on the availability of someone who I think is a top NHL coach, someone who we have experience with, someone who I truly believe can coach this team and also the team when it reaches its highest level of competitiveness.”
Armstrong did not hesitate to cut ties with Bannister, whose interim title was removed from his title and who became full-time coach in May. Bannister was promoted from Springfield of the American Hockey League last December to replace 2019 Cup-winning coach Craig Berube, and the Blues missed the playoffs despite winning 30 of their final 54 games.
The Blues lost 13 of their first 22 games this season. Only two teams have scored fewer than their 2.36 goals per game, and they rank in the bottom third of the league on the power play and penalty kill despite being plagued by injuries.
“It wasn't an easy situation for him,” Armstrong said, adding he felt Bannister learned on the fly as the first NHL head coach. “He made mistakes. We've all made mistakes. … I was more than willing to go through the peaks and valleys with Drew until Monty became available.”
Montgomery, 55, is tasked with making the most of the talent available, something he has done elsewhere. Every team he has coached for a full season has qualified for the playoffs, and his .659 batting average is among the best in NHL history.
“He has a wealth of experience and is really at the peak of his coaching career,” Armstrong said. “He’s the total package, or at least we hope he’s the total package.”
The Bruins picked Montgomery after a tough start and went 8-9-3. The last loss was a 5-1 home loss to Columbus. Boston won 120 of 184 regular-season games with Montgomery leading the way, including setting league records for wins and points in the 2021-22 season when he was the obvious choice for the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year.
His second stint as a head coach in the NHL came after Montgomery's first stint ended abruptly. He was hired by the Dallas Stars in 2018, led them to the second round, and then was fired in December 2019 for unprofessional conduct.
Montgomery believed his release was appropriate, checked into rehab and began to put his life back together.
“He's obviously been through things on and off the rink that make him who he is today,” Armstrong said.
Montgomery received his return to hockey from the Blues when Armstrong hired Montgomery as an assistant on Berube's staff in September 2020. That was the longtime manager's first sign of affinity for Montgomery, and the latest brings with it job security. St. Louis signed him to a five-year contract.
Montgomery is the latest coach to be fired and rehired midseason, a more common occurrence in the NHL than most professional sports leagues. Being out of work for just a few days is reminiscent of Bruce Boudreau's experience in 2011, when he was fired by Washington on a Monday morning and replaced Randy Carlyle in Anaheim later that week.
This is the 23rd coaching change among the league's 32 teams since January 2023, with the Blues making several changes in that time.
“A coach who I believe will make a difference became available and we responded,” Armstrong said. “We have a top-notch NHL coach and now it’s time for all of us to do our jobs and support him.”
