Blues fire head coach Drew Bannister; hire Jim Montgomery
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMIZ)
On Sunday morning, the St. Louis Blues announced that the team has fired head coach Drew Bannister and has already found a new leader. Formers Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery signed a five-year contract to become the 28th head coach in franchise history.
The move comes after Bannister got off to a 9-12-1 start to the season, following a roster overhaul in the offseason.
Montgomery is back behind the bench just five days after getting fired by Boston, now returning to the city he was an assistant coach in years ago. The 55-year-old spent two seasons at the helm of the Bruins and led the team to the top-regular season record and point total in the NHL. Boston also made consecutive playoff appearances in 2023 and 2024 under his leadership.
In his debut season, the Bruins won the Presidents' Trophy, after the squad went 65-12-5 and set new records for both wins and total points (135), all while Montgomery broke the mark for most wins by a coach in their first season with a team. His effort led him to winning the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year in the 2022-23 campaign.
Boston did get off to a rough start to the 2024-25 season under his leadership, though, going 8-9-3 with his final loss as head coach being a 5-1 routing at the hands of Columbus.
Before his time in Boston, Montomgery was also the head coach of the Dallas Stars, before he joined he Blues as an assistant coach for two season, from 2020 to 2022. While he was in St. Louis, the Note posted a 76-42-20 regular-season record, including a 109-point effort in 2021-2022, which tied for the third-highest regular season point total in franchise history.
Montomgery's coaching career actually began at the collegiate level, though. He worked an assistant at both Notre dame and R.P.I. Later, he earned a head coaching position with Dubuque Fighting Saints, where his team ended up winning the USHL's Clark Cup in two of his three seasons with the team. In 2013, the Montreal-native took the helm at the University of Denver where he ended up spending five seasons, winning the 2017 NCAA National Championship.
He also has experience as a player, which includes about 67 games with the St. Louis Blues during his rookie season.
