Tuesday afternoon, the Boston Bruins fired Jim Montgomery after two-plus seasons behind the Black and Gold's bench. He led the Bruins to an NHL record for wins and points in a season on his way to winning the Jack Adams Award. Last season he led them to the playoffs and a first-round win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
When GM Don Sweeney decided to go in a different direction, it was thought that it wouldn't take Montgomery long to find work again. It wouldn't have been surprising to see him get an assistant coaching position to finish out the 2024-25 season before finding another head coaching job for 2025-26. That won't be the case.
St. Louis Blues fire Drew Bannister and hire Jim Montgomery
Sunday morning, the St. Louis Blues fired head coach Drew Bannister and replaced him with Montgomery for the rest of the season. Bannister had a short stay with the Blues after succeeding Craig Berube who was hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
BREAKING NEWS: Drew Bannister has been relieved of his coaching duties. Jim Montgomery has been named the 28th head coach in franchise history. https://t.co/72NdjNpjaw #stlblues
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) November 24, 2024
St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong announced that he has not only hired Montgomery to coach, but he signed him to a five-year contract to return to an organization that he spent two years as an assistant coach under Berube before being hired in Boston. The Blues a 9-12-1 after a 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday night and sit five points out of the final Western Conference wild-card spot.
It's not surprising to see Montgomery get hired right away and he won't have to worry about facing the Black and Gold this season. Boston rallied to beat the Blues, 3-2, in St. Louis on Nov. 12, before losing in overtime four days later at the TD Garden. Boston is 2-0-0 under interim coach Joe Sacco with wins over the Utah Hockey Club and Detroit Red Wings since they fired Montgomery.