ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Blues announced via social media that Drew Bannister has been relieved of his coaching duties and a former Blues center, Jim Montgomery, will take over as head coach.

General Manager Doug Armstrong has signed Montgomery to a five-year contract to become the 28th head coach in franchise history.

Montgomery was just fired as the Bruins head coach on Nov. 19 and in less than a week he signed a new contract to be the Blues head coach.

What You Need To Know

  • St. Louis Blues relieve Drew Bannister as head coach and sign Jim Montgomery to a five-year contract as his successor

  • Montgomery has success as a coach in multiple levels of hockey from playing to coaching at the collegiate level and the NHL

  • Montgomery won the Jack Adams Award a couple of years ago. The last Blues coach to do so was Ken Hitchcock for the 2011-12 season 

  • General Manager Doug Armstrong will hold a noon press conference Nov. 24

Montgomery, 55, has spent the last two seasons with the Boston Bruins. During those two years, he “led the Bruins to the top regular-season record and point total in the NHL (120-41-23, 263 points),” according to a press release from the Blues. Those teams made the playoffs in consecutive years.

In the Bruins' 2022-23 record-breaking season, Montgomery led the Bruins to the Presidents’ Trophy and garnered the Jack Adams Award for Coach of the Year.

Before Boston, he coached a winning record with the Dallas Stars. He previously was an assistant coach of the Blues in 2020-22. For the 2021-22 season, the Blues went 76-42-20 during the regular season with a 109-point effort that tied them for their third highest regular-season point total in franchise history.

Before coaching in the NHL, Montgomery had a decorated college coaching resume with two USHL’s Clark Cups as the Dubuque Fighting Saints head coach and the 2017 NCAA National Championship with the University of Denver.

Montgomery played 67 games for the Blues in his rookie year with the NHL, scoring 20 points.

This year, the Blues rank sixth in the Western Central with 19 points. They’ve won nine games and lost 12. Seven of their last 10 games have been losses, including yesterday’s 3-1 loss against the New York Islanders. Jake Neighbours scored a goal shortly into the third period, but the Islanders’ Kyle Palmieri added an empty-netter just before the end of the game. 

Some point to injuries as to why Saint Louis has struggled as of late. The departure of Bannister is seen by some as an indicator by Armstrong that the team isn’t performing up to expectations.