Based on the timing of the St. Louis Blues’ announcement last May that Drew Bannister was signing a two-year contract to be the team’s head coach, it doesn’t take a genius to see they had interest in giving the job to Jim Montgomery if he were available.
Montgomery’s Boston Bruins wrapped up their first-round playoff win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 4, and after three weeks of being in a holding pattern, the Blues confirmed that Bannister was coming back on May 7.
“I got with my inner circle of guys that I make these decisions with, we talked about different people, and we came back to Drew as being the proper candidate to move forward with,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said at the time. “We’re excited to have him here. I thought he did a very good job in a difficult situation last year and now having a full training camp and a two-year term to put his stamp on this team, we’re looking forward to that.”
Fast forward six months and the landscape has changed, especially in Boston. After an 8-9-3 start, the Bruins fired Montgomery, who was in the final year of a three-year contract. So after going 120-41-23 in Boston and winning the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach in 2023, he’s available.
Meanwhile in St. Louis, the Blues are 8-11-1 heading into their matchup with the San Jose Sharks on Thursday and just 1-5-1 in their last seven games. They’re having trouble scoring goals (29th in the league) and preventing them (28th).
Following the team’s 4-2 loss to Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, Bannister said, “We did some good things, and there’s things we have to correct. We’ve got to find ways to win hockey games. Right now, whether the bounces are going for us, we’ve got to work for those bounces to go our way.”
As soon as I posted Bannister’s postgame remarks on social media, the replies came fast and furious — more furious.
Fire Bannister, hire Montgomery.
I’m not going tell fans how to feel, and at this point, I have no idea what the Blues are thinking. But with the current state of the club, which has led to this speculation just two months into Bannister’s full-time tenure, I want to refresh everyone on how general manager Doug Armstrong has said he views the retool.
I think this exercise will help provide some context to the on-ice decisions that have been made this season. And it could also provide us with some context to the off-ice decision the organization will make regarding the coach.
This is a retool, right?
Well, it was.
The Blues acknowledged it last season, and fans have come to grips with it — some even welcoming it.
But the tone seemed to change in training camp when Armstrong addressed the media. I went back Wednesday and listened to his press conference from September when the additions of Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway via offseason offer sheets and the possibility of Dalibor Dvorský and Zach Bolduc making the opening-night roster was still fresh.
“We’ve changed the outlook of our team,” Armstrong said then. “We have a lot (of) NHL-caliber players that have a lot of experience at a young age in our group right now. I think we’re at a good spot now where we expect to compete.
“I think we have a chance to be a highly competitive team. I know they’re ready for the challenge to get back and push with the teams that were ahead of them last year and become part of that group. I think we can do that.”
Make no mistake, Armstrong wanted to compete this season. You don’t ask your owners to spend to the NHL’s $88 million salary cap (and beyond with injuries) and make decisions with the notion that missing the postseason is OK.
That’s why Pavel Buchnevich started the season playing center, not on the wing where he’ll likely play out the remainder of his six-year, $48 million extension that will kick in next season. He’s there because Armstrong took note of the Blues’ .600-plus point percentage last season when Buchnevich was playing in the middle and that could help the club make the postseason. But now, after two months of Buchnevich looking out of place at center and his production on the wing giving the Blues a better chance for success, do we see a switch?
That’s why Jordan Kyrou was not on the ice for the final four minutes of regulation in last week’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres. After two glaring turnovers by Kyrou that potentially cost the Blues points against the Philadelphia Flyers and Utah Hockey Club, Bannister chose to put Oskar Sundqvist in Kyrou’s spot down the stretch. Sure the coach decides who’s on the ice, but he does so based on the GM’s priorities for the season, and Kyrou not being on the ice in those situations, as opposed to learning how to handle them, should tell us something.
That’s why Bolduc, 21, isn’t a lock to be in the Blues’ lineup every night. The 2021 first-round pick has played in 15 of the team’s 20 games and was a healthy scratch in the other five. Now you could make the case that Bolduc should be playing every night in AHL Springfield and developing in the minors, but my point is, if there was any question about whether Armstrong wants to win now, the fact that Bolduc isn’t suiting up if the Blues don’t think he can help them get them a ‘W’ is another strong sign.
Which leads us to this question: If Armstrong is that focused on the Blues being competitive this season, and making the playoffs this season, would he really replace Bannister with Montgomery? After just 54 games as the interim coach and 20-odd more this season?
He might.
He did it in 2012 when he fired Davis Payne after just 13 games (6-7) and replaced him with Ken Hitchcock, who went on to win the second-most games in Blues’ history (248) behind Joel Quenneville (307). Interestingly, during training camp this year, Armstrong likened the Blues’ roster and situation to the “2010-11, 2011-12” era, just before they dismissed Payne.
Before being named head coach of the Bruins, Montgomery had been working as an assistant coach with St. Louis. (Rick Ulreich / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
We know how much Armstrong likes Montgomery, being the first to hire him back in the NHL as an assistant coach in 2020 after he was fired by the Dallas Stars due to “unprofessional conduct.” Players such as Buchnevich and Robert Thomas were disappointed when he left for the job in Boston, but knew it was best for his career to land another head coaching job with an Original Six club.
But after a pair of amazing regular seasons and two early playoff exits, Montgomery didn’t get to see December in his third year with the Bruins. He’ll assuredly pop up somewhere, and The Athletic mentioned four possible destinations: St. Louis, Montreal, Detroit and Pittsburgh.
Former Blues and current Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube vouched for him Wednesday.
“I know Monty personally,” Berube said. “We brought him into St. Louis to work with us for a couple years and he was fantastic. He’s a very intelligent coach on both sides of the puck. I think him coming into St. Louis, I found Monty was very, very responsible on the defensive side of things. He actually ran our (penalty kill) that year and it was very good. Very good on that side of things.”
Whether the Blues hiring Montgomery and moving on from Bannister becomes reality or remains a rumor, the remote possibility would be a very raw deal for Bannister. In 74 games with a retooling roster, he’s 38-30-6. His club went a stretch of 12 games recently without arguably its two best players in Broberg and Thomas. There aren’t many coaches, if any, who could’ve forged a better record under these circumstances.
The ultimate decision would undoubtedly include Armstrong and Alexander Steen, the GM-in-waiting who will take over after the 2025-26 season. Are the Blues building for then, or do they want to be in the playoffs by then? If they want to be in the postseason, would a change help?
We are about three weeks shy of when Armstrong fired Berube on Dec. 14. While going back and re-listening to Armstrong’s interviews from earlier this year, I came across this comment when asked about continuity in the coaching ranks.
“I think all managers and team owners would say the same thing: you want continuity as much as possible, but sometimes it’s just not possible,” Armstrong said. “If you look at the number of changes in the coaching fraternity over the last 36 months, I’m personally not sure this is healthy, but it seems to be a trend that we’re on now. I do believe in longevity if you can build relationships and go through it. For some reason, our industry isn’t working that way, and I hope it does change.”
Will Armstrong stick with Bannister, or will Montgomery’s availability make it “just not possible?” If the GM believes the Blues will be more competitive this year and better in the long term, a reunion may not be out of the question.
(Top photo: Josh Lavallee / NHLI via Getty Images)
