Jim Montgomery was named the new head coach of the St. Louis Blues on Sunday morning, five days after being fired by the Boston Bruins.
He therefore replaces Drew Bannister, who was fired from his position. Montgomery thus becomes the 28e head instructor in Blues history, signing a five-year contract with the team.
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It’s a return to the Missouri organization for Montgomery, the latter having been an assistant coach with the club between 2020 and 2022. The Montrealer spent the last two years with the Bruins, where he notably led the team to a historic season in 2022-2023, presenting a record of 65-12-5 and collections of 135 points. That season he won the Jack Adams Trophy, awarded to the best head coach in the National Hockey League (NHL).
As a leader behind the bench, however, Montgomery never made it past the second round of the playoffs. In 2022-2023, the Bruins were eliminated in the first round by the Florida Panthers, while they lost in the second round in six games against this same team during the last spring ball.
The 55-year-old began his NHL head coaching career with the Dallas Stars. He was 43-32-7 in his only full season at Texas.
This decision by the Blues (9-12-1) comes after a 3-1 loss against the New York Islanders on Saturday evening. St. Louis, which sits sixth in the Central Division, has lost seven of its last 10 games.
In 297 games on the Bettman circuit, Montgomery posted a performance of 180-84-33.
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