Armstrong: Bannister firing based on sudden availability of Montgomery

St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said his choice to fire head coach Drew Bannister stemmed almost entirely from the sudden clearing of Jim Montgomery's schedule.

"When I woke up Wednesday morning, there was no inclination to make a coaching change," he revealed during Sunday's press conference.

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

Montgomery was fired by the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, but he was only out of a job for five days. He was scooped up by the Blues on Sunday. St. Louis signed the 2023 Jack Adams Award winner to a five-year deal.

Bannister finished last season as interim bench boss of the Blues and was just 22 games into the two-year extension he signed in May. This was his first-ever head coaching gig at the NHL level.

"The situation that we were in, a young coach learning, learning with young players, it wasn't an easy situation for (Bannister) to walk into," Armstrong said. "I thought he did a good job. He was making mistakes. We were all making mistakes and that's how you get better."

The executive added that he was "more than prepared to go through the peaks and valleys" with Bannister, but he ultimately felt hiring Montgomery was "the right thing" for the franchise.

"We have our work to do, we have a lot of things that Jim has to get organized to his satisfaction, and we're ready to move ahead," Armstrong said.

Montgomery is the Blues' third coach in less than a year after the team fired Craig Berube last December, but Armstrong said he's "quite confident" this will be his last time hosting a press conference of this nature. St. Louis announced in June that Alex Steen will be succeeding Armstrong as general manager beginning in 2026.

Despite the Blues' big-ticket hiring, Armstrong isn't about to stray from his retooling plan.

"Our vision of where we're at has not changed. ... Bringing in Monty today doesn't put (top prospects Dalibor Dvorsky, Jimmy Snuggerud, Theo Lindstein, and Otto Stenberg) any closer to playing," he said. "That comes with maturity. What it does is gives us a really good coach for today and for tomorrow."

Montgomery will speak to the media Monday.