St. Louis Blues fire Drew Bannister; hire Jim Montgomery as Head Coach

 

The St. Louis Blues have fired head coach Drew Bannister. Bannister, 50, was 9-12-1 with 19 points in 22 games to start the 2024-2025 season. Bannister took over last season as head coach, after Craig Berube was fired on December 12, 2023. At the time of Berube's firing, the Blues were 13-14-1 with 27 points in 28 games. Then, Bannister in 54 games was 30-19-5 with 65 points. 

Overall, Bannister coached the Blues for 2 seasons. Bannister coached 76 games and was 39-31-6 with 84 points and a winning percentage of .553. 

To replace Bannister, the Blues have hired Jim Montgomery as their new head coach. Montgomery, 55, becomes the Blues 28th head coach in franchise history. Montgomery will get a five-year contract. Montgomery was recently fired by the Boston Bruins on November 19, 2024. Montgomery was in his 3rd season as the Bruins head coach.

Montgomery had his best season in 2022-2023. That season, Montgomery led the Bruins to a record of 65-12-5 with 135 points. The wins and points were both career highs for Montgomery in his NHL head coaching career. The wins and points also set an NHL record in a single season. Montgomery ended up winning the Jack Adams Award for his success in 2022-2023.

Before joining the Bruins, Montgomery was head coach of the Dallas Stars for 2 seasons (2018-2020). After being fired by the Dallas Stars, Montgomery was an assistant coach for the Blues for 2 seasons (2020-2022) under Berube.  

Overall, Montgomery is currently in his 5th season as an NHL lead cooch. Montgomery has coached 298 games and has a record of 180-64-33 with a .659 winning percentage. In the playoffs, Montgomery is 16-17 with a .485 winning percentage. 

This will be Montgomery's 3rd tenure with the Blues. As a player, Montgomery played for the Blues for 1 season (1993-1994). 

Motgomery should be able to do well with the Blues. He has a strong bond with Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich, and Jordan Kyrou. Montgomery also does good job working with young players. 

The Blues have been wanting Montgomery for a while. If Montgomery had been available before the Blues decided to make Bannister the full-time head coach, he would have been hired instead. 

Motgomery's 1st game as Blues head coach will be on Monday night in New York against the Rangers.