John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
It didn’t take long for Jim Montgomery to find his new home.
The St. Louis Blues announced Sunday they fired head coach Drew Bannister just 22 games into the season and hired Montgomery to replace him on a five-year contract. Montgomery was available because the Boston Bruins fired him following an 8-9-3 to the 2024-25 campaign.
It seemed like Bannister had the Blues on the right track last season when he posted a 30-19-5 record as the interim coach after the team fired Craig Berube. While St. Louis still missed the playoffs, it elevated expectations heading into the new season.
Things have not gone as planned.
St. Louis is just 9-12-1 overall and has won a total of two games since improving to 7-6-0 with a Nov. 5 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. It is in sixth place in the Central Division and is already five points out of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
While there is plenty of time to turn things around, it’s not everyday a coach with Montgomery’s resume is available in the middle of a season.
Boston went 65-12-5 and took home the Presidents’ Trophy in his first season as the team’s coach in 2022-23. He was awarded the 2022-23 Jack Adams Award for coach of the year after breaking the record for the most wins by a coach in a first season with a team.
The Bruins also made the playoffs in his second season with a 47-20-15 record, although the postseason performances were a concern.
Rather, the Florida Panthers were a concern.
Florida stunned the Presidents’ Trophy team in the first round in 2023 and then eliminated the Bruins again in the second round last season. The Panthers ended up winning the Stanley Cup in 2024, which is something the Bruins haven’t done since 2011.
It wasn’t long ago that St. Louis was holding up the Stanley Cup in 2019, and it will be up to Montgomery to return the franchise to that standard.
He is familiar with the Blues, as he played 67 games for the team during his rookie season in an NHL career that also included stops with the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars. He was also an assistant coach in St. Louis for two seasons (2020-22) during a stretch that included an impressive 109-point total in 2021-22.
Montgomery was also the head coach for the Stars for 114 games in 2018-19 and 2019-20 and went 60-43-10.
