NHL's St. Louis Blues Hire Coach Jim Montgomery, Fire Drew ...

Just six days after being fired by the Boston Bruins, Jim Montgomery has landed a new head-coaching ... [+] job with the St. Louis Blues. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)

Jim Montgomery waited less than a week for a new coaching opportunity.

On Sunday, the St. Louis Blues announced that Montgomery has become their new head coach. He became available on Tuesday, when he was fired by the Boston Bruins after an 8-9-3 start.

The Blues started the season with a record of 9-12-1 under Drew Bannister, who has been terminated by GM Doug Armstrong after less than a year on the job.

“This was more of an opportunity to get someone of Jim’s caliber than anything else," said Armstrong on Sunday, per the Associated Press. “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, 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.”

St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)

While the lightning-quick timeline for Montgomery to find his landing spot is surprising, it’s no shock that another team was eager to bring him under contract — and that the Blues were the successful suitor.

Montgomery was named the 2023 winner of the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year after a historically successful first season in Boston. All told, over 298 games in his previous stops with the Bruins and the Dallas Stars, his coaching record is 180-84-33 for a points percentage of .659. That’s just ahead of the .657 career percentage of the legendary Scotty Bowman and fourth all-time among coaches with more than 200 games on their resumes.

After Montgomery was let go by the Dallas Stars in 2019 and subsequently underwent treatment for alcoholism, it was Armstrong who offered his first opportunity to return to the NHL. He joined the Blues as an assistant coach to Craig Berube in September of 2020.

Now coaching the Toronto Maple Leafs, Berube spoke glowingly of his two seasons working with Montgomery.

Craig Berube and Jim Montgomery on February 15, 2022. (Photo by Steven Kingsman/Icon Sportswire via ... [+] Getty Images)

“We brought Monty in to St. Louis to work with us for a couple of years, and he was fantastic,” Berube said earlier this week, then added, “I feel for coaches, and it’s a tough business ... This one’s more personal for me.”

Job security is rare on NHL benches — as Bannister learned on Sunday. Promoted from the AHL as an interim boss when Berube was fired by the Blues last December, Bannister coached the Blues to a 30-19-5 record for the rest of the 2023-24 season, but saw his team finish six points out of a wild-card berth. And while those results were good enough for him to have the interim tag removed last summer, his leash as a first-time NHL bench boss only extended for another 22 games.

Drew Bannister has been let go by the St. Louis Blues after less than a year on the job. (Photo by ... [+] Katherine Gawlik/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

“It wasn’t an easy situation for him to walk into,” Armstrong said. “I was more than willing to go through the peaks and valleys with Drew until Monty became available.”

With a five-year deal now in hand, Montgomery should be a key part of the Blues’ next era. In June, the organization announced that long-time player Alexander Steen is being groomed to take over from Armstrong as general manager in 2026, and that Armstrong will remain as president of hockey operations through the 2028-29 season.

Montgomery has his work cut out for him. After winning their only Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2019, the Blues have struggled in subsequent seasons. They’ve won just one playoff round, have missed the playoffs for the past two years, and are sitting five points out of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference as of Sunday. Their goal differential of minus-21 is also tied for third-worst in the league.

After the Blues dropped a 3-1 decision to the New York Islanders on Saturday, Jim Montgomery will make his head-coaching debut with the team when their three-game road trip continues against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday. His home-ice debut at Enterprise Center will come next Saturday, against the Philadelphia Flyers.