Decision made Sunday morning after 3-1 loss to Islanders for offensively-challenged team; Montgomery gets five-year contract

Drew Bannister's tenure as St. Louis Blues coach was short-lived when the team announced on Sunday morning he had been fired and replaced by Jim Montgomery.

Montgomery, 55, will be the third coach to guide the Blues in less than a year.

The Blues dropped a 3-1 decision to the New York Islanders on Saturday and sending them to 9-12-1 on the season, dropping them to 25th in the league in winning percentage (.432).

The rumors swirled rapidly that something could be in the works between the Blues and Montgomery, who signed a five-year contract, after Montgomery was fired by the Boston Bruins on Monday after starting the season 8-9-3.

Bannister replaced Craig Berube after the Blues fired their Stanley Cup-winning coach following a 6-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 12, 2023 and coaching his first game two days later; he finished last season 30-19-5 and was signed to a two-year contract on May 7.

The Blues were expected to be a competitive team this season but have drastically underperformed on the offensive side of the puck, scoring two or fewer goals in 13 of 22 games and one or fewer in seven of 22.

They are 30th in goals per game this season at 2.36 per game while the power play is 25th at 16.7 percent.

Montgomery, who will make his debut Monday against the New York Rangers, returns to St. Louis after being an assistant coach for two seasons (2020-22) under Berube and played 67 of his 122 NHL games with the Blues in his rookie season.

There will be more to this breaking story when general manager Doug Armstrong addresses the media at noon (CT).