NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs-Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Bruins - Source: Imagn — Eliotte Friedman drops eye-opening remark on Jim Montgomery-Blues five year contract (Imagn)

Elliotte Friedman drops eye-opening remark on Jim Montgomery-Blues five year contract

Modified Nov 25, 2024 18:47 GMT

It did not take long for Jim Montgomery to land on his feet. In fact, after his dismissal from the Boston Bruins, Montgomery is back as a head coach, not even an assistant. The St. Louis Blues fired Drew Bannister and gave Montgomery a five-year deal.

Bannister was hired to replace Craig Berube and was only a few months into his employment as head coach (he had served as interim coach after Berube was fired the previous year), when the Blues decided to hire Montgomery.

NHL analyst Elliotte Friedman believes this was a pairing that was almost inevitable, saying each party had an eye on the other even while they had other commitments.

On the 32 Thoughts podcast, Friedman said (7:15):

"I think everybody knew that the Blues had one eye on Montgomery and Montgomery had one eye on the Blues. And I would think that the Bruins knew that this was possible all along, that Montgomery realized that this other situation was there."

Ultimately, after a disappointing start, Montgomery was dismissed from the Bruins, but he is back in the NHL just a few days later.

"If he wasn't happy with the way that the Bruins situation was working out, he could potentially go there, and that's exactly the way it unfolded. I don't think this is a surprise to anybody," Friedman added.

Friedman believes that had Montgomery been available from the beginning of the summer, the Blues would have hired him and not promoted Bannister to head coach.

Expand Tweet

Blues GM addresses shocking Jim Montgomery hiring

It is not often that a team fires a coach just a few weeks into his first year as a head coach, but the St. Louis Blues canned Drew Bannister once Jim Montgomery became available. According to GM Doug Armstrong, it wasn't something he was inclined to do until Montgomery was available.

Via NESN, he said:

“It certainly was someone I’ve respected, someone I’ve admired, someone I felt had all the attributes to be a long-term coach for the Blues, and it started down that process. So, this was more of an opportunity to get someone of Jim’s caliber than anything else."

Jim Montgomery is with the Blues now (Imagn)

He said it ultimately boils down to landing someone of Montgomery's caliber, a move that was previously unavailable to him and all other NHL teams.