最新杏吧原创

NEW YORK 鈥� At the end of the day, the Blues just could not pass up this opportunity.

Jim Montgomery was available. 最新杏吧原创 and general manager Doug Armstrong took him off the market.

On Sunday, the Blues fired coach Drew Bannister and installed Montgomery behind the bench, signing Montgomery to a five-year deal that runs through the 2028-29 season. Montgomery was fired on Tuesday as the coach of the Bruins, despite Boston owning the best record in the league during his tenure.

Bannister was fired just 22 games into his first season as the team鈥檚 full-time head coach as the Blues posted a 9-12-1 record. He was installed as the interim coach last December after Craig Berube was fired, and the Blues hired him as the full-time coach this summer, signing him to a two-year contract.

In total, Bannister coached 76 games for the Blues, going 39-31-6.

鈥淭his decision was based, I would say almost 100% on having someone of Jim鈥檚 caliber become available when I didn鈥檛 know that was going to happen,鈥� Armstrong said.

Montgomery, 55, has history in 最新杏吧原创. He played 67 of his 122 NHL games for the Blues in the early 鈥�90s. His wife is from 最新杏吧原创. He was an assistant coach under Berube from 2020-22 after he was fired by the Stars in December 2019 for 鈥渦nprofessional conduct.鈥� He later entered a rehabilitation program for alcohol abuse, and the assistant job in 最新杏吧原创 was his first in the NHL after the program.

When he was back in town recently with the Bruins, Montgomery went to Vito鈥檚 in Midtown to see family and friends. Now, he鈥檚 the 28th coach in the history of the Blues, taking over a team in transition.

鈥淲hen I talked to Drew today,鈥� Armstrong said, 鈥淚 told him that this was more of a decision based on the availability of someone I think is a top NHL coach, someone that we have experience with, someone that I really do believe can coach this team and also coach the team when it reaches its ultimate level of competitiveness.

鈥淗e鈥檚 done that. He鈥檚 worked with younger players in the USHL and in college, good success in Dallas, good success in Boston. He鈥檚 one of those coaches that I really do believe can be with this team now and as it grows. The proof of that is the five-year commitment.鈥�

That is an abnormally long one for a franchise that will have its third coach in less than a year when Montgomery steps behind the bench on Monday inside Madison Square Garden.

Across the NHL today, only four coaches have been with their teams for at least five years. Three of them have Stanley Cups: Jon Cooper in Tampa Bay, Mike Sullivan in Pittsburgh and Jared Bednar in Colorado. The other (Rod Brind鈥橝mour in Carolina) has won playoff series in five of his seven years.

Montgomery lasted 114 games in Dallas and 184 games in Boston before he was fired.

鈥淥ne of the things that I think is the next part for Jim鈥檚 career is to get that longevity in one spot,鈥� Armstrong said. 鈥淚 look at someone like Jon Cooper now. He鈥檚 the standard bearer for what everyone wants to be, a competitive coach year in, year out, deals with different players. Deals with players coming and going and finds a way to stay competitive. That鈥檚 Jim鈥檚 next goal is to stay in 最新杏吧原创, and I hope it鈥檚 for well over a decade.鈥�

Montgomery鈥檚 coaching resume is lengthy.

He won two Clark Cups in his three seasons with Dubuque in the USHL. He spent five years coaching at the University of Denver, winning one national championship. In his first season in Dallas, his Stars lost in double-overtime of Game 7 to the Blues in the second round of the playoffs. In his first season in Boston, his Bruins posted the best record in NHL history with a 135-point season that resulted in Montgomery winning the Jack Adams Award as the coach of the year.

Armstrong likened the situation to the one in 2011, when he fired Davis Payne after 13 games and installed Ken Hitchcock to both coach a younger team through a transition and then once it became a perennial contender.

鈥�(Hitchcock) was able to maximize that group, and I think that as we continue to learn how to win and learn how to be competitive on a nightly basis, Monty can push us all to get better,鈥� Armstrong said. 鈥淎nd then when we get there, he can take us to the promised land.鈥�

Now, Armstrong said, 鈥渃oaching is not an issue. If there鈥檚 an off-ramp of inexperience, that is no longer there.鈥�

Bannister鈥檚 tenure behind the Blues鈥� bench was the shortest one for the franchise since 1997, when Jim Roberts coached nine games on an interim basis.

鈥淭he situation that we were in, a young coach learning with young players, it wasn鈥檛 an easy situation for him to walk into,鈥� Armstrong said of Bannister. 鈥淚 thought he did a good job. He was making mistakes. We were all making mistakes, and that鈥檚 how you get better. Drew was learning as we went on. I was more than prepared to go through the peaks and the valleys with Drew until Monty became available.鈥�

Over the offseason, when the Blues had a coaching vacancy, the team announced Bannister鈥檚 hiring on May 7, which was three days after the Bruins advanced out of their first-round series against Toronto. How much was Montgomery a topic of internal discussion over the summer?

鈥淗e really wasn鈥檛 because he had a job,鈥� Armstrong said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 spend a lot of time on the wish list of what鈥檚 out there. The grass isn鈥檛 always greener. ... Quite honestly, I didn鈥檛 spend much time thinking about Monty this summer.鈥�

In the short term, Montgomery takes over a team that has struggled to score consistently and entered the day 26th in the NHL standings by points percentage. The Blues have lost seven of their past nine games. The power play is 25th. The penalty killing is 24th.

Part of Montgomery鈥檚 task will be to remedy an offense that tries to pass the puck into the net, Armstrong said.

鈥淭o pass the puck into the net, it has to be perfect,鈥� Armstrong said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a game of not perfect.鈥�

In the longer term, Armstrong was clear to say that this hiring did little to change the trajectory of the club鈥檚 vision, particularly regarding prospects such as Dalibor Dvorsky, Jimmy Snuggerud, Theo Lindstein and Otto Stenberg.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 very important for me to say that our vision of where we鈥檙e at has not changed,鈥� Armstrong said. 鈥淲hen we said that we were going to retool, whatever (I) was going to do, bringing in Monty today doesn鈥檛 put Dvorsky, Snuggerud, Theo, Otto any closer to playing. That comes with maturity. What it does is it gives us a really good coach for today and for tomorrow.鈥�

The Blues simply couldn鈥檛 risk missing out on their guy.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know when the next opportunity would come,鈥� Armstrong said. 鈥淚 felt it was the right thing for the Blues franchise to get someone like Monty in here when we could.鈥�