Blues fire coach Drew Bannister, name Jim Montgomery replacement: Why St. Louis made the move

By Jeremy Rutherford, Fluto Shinzawa and Alex Andrejev

The St. Louis Blues have fired coach Drew Bannister and immediately hired former Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery as his replacement, the team announced Sunday. The Blues signed Montgomery, who the Bruins fired Tuesday, to a five-year contract to become the 28th head coach in the team’s history.

The Blues are 9-12-1 this season and coming off a 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday.

St. Louis named Bannister, 50, its interim head coach in December 2023 after firing Craig Berube and promoted him to the permanent head-coaching role on a two-year contract after the 2023-24 season.

He went 30-19-5 as interim coach and 39-31-6 overall during his time with the organization.

St. Louis finished 43-33-6 last season but missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second straight campaign.

Montgomery, 55, rejoins the Blues after serving as an assistant coach with the team for two seasons (2020-22). He was also head coach of the Dallas Stars before his time in Boston. The Bruins were 120-41-23 under Montgomery and have gone 2-0-0 since his firing.

“He will land on his feet,” Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco said the day after Montgomery’s dismissal. “He’s too good of a coach.”

Why did the Blues fire Bannister?

Two reasons: No. 1 is general manager Doug Armstrong believed that the Blues could make the playoffs this season, and there were no signs of that happening. No. 2 is Montgomery was suddenly available.

In 22 games this season, the Blues have scored two or fewer goals 13 times and one or less in seven of those games. Bannister had a difficult challenge in that he was playing without top center Robert Thomas for 12 games, and the team has also been without defenseman Philip Broberg.

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But what began as a situation in which Bannister was the coach who would help the Blues navigate through a retool became one in which the team wanted to compete and believed Montgomery could help deliver the results. — Jeremy Rutherford, Blues beat writer

Why Montgomery?

Despite being fired in Boston, Montgomery possesses a strong resume and the Blues have a good familiarity with him.

Montgomery, who had a short stint with the Blues during his playing career (67 games in 1993-94), was a respected assistant coach with the club.

In a short time, Montgomery created a solid bond with the Blues’ top players such as Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich. The coach had a way of connecting with them, and others, and the club hopes that he can return and help bring out the best in the roster.

Montgomery is also a quality coach when it comes to specific parts of the game, such as five-on-five offense and special teams, and the Blues have been futile in those areas.

Overall, Armstrong believes that Montgomery can help in those areas both in the immediate future and in the long term. — Rutherford

More context on Montgomery’s move

Boston is no longer responsible for fulfilling the remainder of Montgomery’s three-year contract. With his move to St. Louis, he joins former Bruins head coach Claude Julien, who was dismissed by the club in February 2017 and now serves as an assistant coach with the Blues.

Montgomery isn’t the only former Bruins coach to land a five-year contract after being fired by the team. Bruce Cassidy, Montgomery’s predecessor in Boston, signed a five-year deal with the Vegas Golden Knights after he was fired by the Bruins on June 6, 2022. — Fluto Shinzawa, Bruins beat writer

Required reading

(Photo of Bannister: Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images)