Montgomery: 'Crazy' week but 'no-brainer' to return to Blues
Few people in the hockey world have had a busier week than Jim Montgomery.
His tenure as bench boss of the Boston Bruins ended last Tuesday, but he was unemployed for only five days before St. Louis hired him. Now, he's mere hours away from his first game as head coach of the Blues.
"Crazy! Crazy!" Montgomery said when asked to assess the past six days. "There's no other word for it. A lot of emotions. I'm a firm believer that when one door closes, another one opens if you do the right thing."
Despite the whirlwind, Montgomery said it was an easy choice to take the St. Louis job now rather than wait to see what other opportunities might open up in the offseason, partly because he served as an assistant coach for the Blues in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
"I've worked with over half this lineup already, and I know how committed they are to playing the right way and the type of people they are," he said. "For me, this was a no-brainer to be able to come back home and be a Blue again."
The 55-year-old is already familiar with virtually all of the Blues' core players, including Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Pavel Buchnevich, Brayden Schenn, Colton Parayko, and Jordan Binnington.
Montgomery believes the familiarity gives him a "tremendous head start," but he's also treating the opportunity as a clean slate.
"I'm coming in here with no expectations," he said. "For the players, that's healthy. For me, that's healthy. ... But there is an expectation for us to be a blue-collar team, that we're gonna work and we're gonna have energy."
Montgomery said when Blues general manager Doug Armstrong called him about the head-coaching job, he first thought the executive was just checking in on him as a friend.
"Once it turned to business, the engine and my blood started pumping," he said.
Montgomery added that Armstrong can be "very persuasive."
"The best line that put his hooks into me was, 'When something delicious falls on my plate, I eat.' So, I don't know, I guess I was a T-bone that day," he said with a laugh.
Armstrong revealed Sunday that he had no intention of making a coaching change until Montgomery became available.
The 2023 Jack Adams Award winner will now be tasked with helping right the Blues' ship. They currently sit in sixth place of the Central Division with a 9-12-1 record and have struggled to score, ranking 30th in the league in goals per game (2.36).
"To me, this is an offensive-slanted team, and it just shows you how hard it is to score," Montgomery said.
The Blues will play the New York Rangers at 7 p.m. ET Monday.