Jim Montgomery is thrilled to be back with the St. Louis Blues as their coach

NEW YORK (AP) There was no denying his feelings as Jim Montgomery, the new coach of the Blues, stood in front of reporters on Monday at Madison Square Garden wearing a dark blue hoodie with the team’s iconic blue note emblem on it.

Montgomery, a 2020–22 Blues assistant, is thrilled to return to St. Louis.

Less than a week after being fired by the Boston Bruins and hired by St. Louis to replace Drew Bannister, the 55-year-old stated, “There’s no other word for it, it’s crazy.” I’ve already worked with more than half of this roster, so I know how dedicated they are. It was obvious to me that I should return home.

The Blues have work to do after missing the playoffs the previous season when Bannister replaced 2019 Stanley Cup-winning coach Craig Berube in December. They are in the worst third of the league in terms of power plays and penalty kills, and they began the season 9-12-1. Only two teams have scored fewer goals than their 2.36 goals per game.

Montgomery was voted coach of the year after leading the Bruins to a record-breaking 65-win, 135-point season in 2022–2023. Doug Armstrong, the general manager and president of the Blues, jumped at the chance.

You know it’s the proper place to go when you receive a call and hear about Doug Armstrong’s strategy and how you play a significant role in it. Montgomery stated. His statement, “When something delicious falls on my plate, I eat,” is the one that most appealed to me. I’m not sure. I suppose that day I was a T-bone.

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Montgomery’s.659 points percentage is among the finest in league history, and every NHL team he has led for a whole season has made it to the playoffs.

“I think this group is great,” Montgomery remarked. In this league, qualifying for the playoffs is difficult. It is missed by half of the teams. However, I do believe that this is a playoff-caliber club in the long run.

After losing 12 of their first 20 games, the Bruins fired Montgomery last Tuesday. Although Boston’s playoff success was restricted to a series victory over Toronto in the first round last spring, the team won 120 of 184 regular-season games with Montgomery on the bench.

In December 2019, he lost his first NHL coaching position with the Dallas Stars due to unethical behavior.

Montgomery joined Berube’s staff after Armstrong hired him in September 2020. He now offered his new coach a five-year deal with the goal of assisting St. Louis in returning to the top division of the league.

Armstrong stated on Sunday that he is one of those coaches that he truly thinks can be a part of this squad both now and in the future. The five-year committment is evidence of that. Getting that longevity in one place is one of the things I believe will be the next step in Jim’s career.

It wasn’t easy to leave the Bruins following Boston’s success, but Montgomery claimed he made the decision to adopt an optimistic outlook right away.

“I firmly believe that if you do the right thing, when one door closes, another one opens,” he remarked. It has to do with your relationships. The five-year agreement demonstrates Tom Stillman’s and the ownership group’s dedication and unity in this endeavor.

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