St. Louis Blues end of season Q & A with Drew Bannister

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Drew Bannister was put in a situation he'd never been in before.

Not that the 50-year-old has never been a bench boss before, but coach has never been behind an NHL bench before.

But at the time, he was guiding the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League when his time came calling. The Blues had just fired Stanley Cup-winning coach Craig Berube following a 6-4 loss against the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 12, falling to 13-14-1 with their fourth straight loss.

Now came the time to run his own ship, many players Bannister had already known from his time coaching them in the AHL but a different wave of veterans he had to get a message across to as well.

The Blues made a spirited push, finishing 43-33-6 on the season, or 30-19-5 under Bannister, and was in the playoff race in the Western Conference until getting eliminated following Game No. 80.

Bannister was named the interim coach then, and as of this posting, he still is the interim coach but a finalist for the coaching vacancy that Blues management needs to address at some point here in the not-too-distant future.

Bannister discusses the season, his expectations moving forward and a plethora of topics in his season-ending press conference:

How did the team perform after you took over?

I think when I look at the overall picture and certainly the circumstances that I came in under, I'm really proud of this group. No. 1, I'm proud of the leadership core -- 'Schenner', 'Faulker', Robby [Thomas], 'Pary' -- and how they welcomed me. Then, the rest of the group of the players and how they came each day, how professional they were, bought into what we were trying to do as a staff, and what the organization had asked of them after the change. And certainly with my coaching staff, how they came to work every day and how professionally they were. Certainly we're sitting here talking about a season that we're all disappointed in. We certainly want to be at this point of the year getting ourselves ready to play the first game of the playoffs. But when I look back at the year, and when I reflect over the summer about this group, I have no question in my mind, there's going to be some things that we learned that we will get better from, but I strongly believe in this group. I think at this time next year we're going to be having a press conference about who we're playing in the first round of the playoffs.

What was it like to hear Doug Armstrong say that you’re a candidate for the job and what will it be like to wait for the process to play out?

I think I've said this before. I've been very lucky with the opportunity that the ownership here, that Doug [Armstrong] and the rest of the management have given me. Not only coming here midseason but giving me my first opportunity to coach pro hockey in the American Hockey League. I'm proud of the way these players conducted themselves since I've come in. I'm certainly a better coach because of the group that is here, and without that opportunity that Tom [Stillman] and the rest of the ownership group and Doug have given me, I certainly wouldn't be sitting up here in front of you guys today. So I'm very appreciative of that. I understand the process and what they're going through. When I first came in, there (were) no promises made. There (were) no expectations other than getting this team to where we all believed it could be and starting that process with the players and working on the habits and details in our game that we all knew we had to get better at to start to have success. I'm proud of that myself, and our coaching staff, and the players bought into that, and I think we saw a lot of good things happen that we can build on for next year.

What would be your pitch to Armstrong to keep the job?

I don't know if there's a pitch. Doug knows me well enough. We've spent a lot of time together over the last four months. Previous to that, we didn't have a working relationship like we've had over the last four months. So I think there was a lot of learning and a lot of growing between myself and Doug on that process. I think now he knows me better as a person, as an individual and also as a coach. So I think he knows the coach that he's getting, and I think for me personally, the process of what I've gone through as a coach, whether it was in junior hockey, the American Hockey League or the NHL, I continue to get better, and I believe I still have a lot of growth in myself as a coach in the National Hockey League. I'm looking forward to whatever's next. Certainly for me, the No. 1 option would be to stay with the St. Louis Blues and be the head coach of this hockey club, but I understand that there's a process to go through, and I'm more than happy and proud to be a part of that process. I think there's a lot of people that got me to this point, and there's a lot of people out there that aren't up here with me, whether it's my family members, previous coaches and then certainly the coaches that I had here that worked with me day to day and made me a better person and a better coach for it.

It would have been best for you if Armstrong just gave you the job. With no promises made, were you comfortable with that situation?

Yeah, of course. There's never a perfect situation when you're a coach. For me, the situation that I came into was tough. There's no question about that, that it was a tough situation. But when I look back at it, I strongly believe that I thrived in this situation and I became a better coach and a better person from it. This was an outstanding learning experience for me. In moving forward, I'm going to be able to take a lot of positives from this experience that I've gone through with this hockey club and this organization and move forward. I'm looking forward to the next challenge.

What kind of progress did you see from Jordan Kyrou?

I think when I first came in with Jordan, we went through that tough time with him. Him and I had a lot of individual conversations. Not about hockey, just about life in itself and just man to man conversations about how we're going to get through this together, as a team, as an individual and that I was here to support him through that. Then certainly looking at parts of his game, Jordan, really, when you look at the last month and playing those meaningful games and how well he played ... we moved him around the lineup a bit and we found him a spot with 'Buchy' and 'Saader' ... I'm proud of the way that he played, and I was really excited about how he played in the last month to six weeks where it was really meaningful games. I'm excited for Jordan moving forward. He is going to be a key part of this team's success moving forward, and I think he's still got a lot to give.

You were always someone who felt this team could make the playoffs. Why do you think you fell short?

I think when you look back, there's probably a handful of games, obviously the game against Columbus (before the All-Star break), the two games against San Jose, there's six points there that would possibly make a difference. We don't know. I think the inconsistencies in our play (were the issues), but again, I go back to what I said before, those are learning lessons that we can reflect on this summer. I think it goes to show you how difficult this league is and how unforgiving it is, and how important games are, regardless of what time they are in the season, whether it's in October or November or March or April. They're all extremely important and those points matter. I think as a group, we're going to become better for it, going through those processes and understanding and identifying those games that we have to be better in.

You had to jump in on the fly when you took over. If you get the job, is there anything new you would be implementing next season?

No question. I think for myself, I've already been identifying things that we have to get better in, structurally within our team. I think any coach should be doing that, regardless of their situation. Like we've touched on, I don't know what my situation is, but right now, leaving here today, I'm still the head coach of the St. Louis Blues and it's my mandate to continue that process of getting myself ready and prepared and getting my staff members prepared for next season until we know otherwise. So most definitely, when you ask me would there be changes systematically, we would make changes. Will they be massive changes? I don't believe they'd be massive changes, but we've identified some things in our game that we have to get better at structurally. I think habit-wise, we can continue to build on our habits and our details in our game, certainly away from the puck. We saw some growth in it, but I still think there's a lot of work to be done and a lot of growth in our game in that aspect.

Where is Robert Thomas at in his evolution?

Well, I think Robby has really proven that he's an elite player in this league, obviously with the All-Star nomination. But the way he played this year, the amount of minutes he played this year, the amount of meaningful minutes he played this year against top lines and how he competed and how he showed up to play every day, I don't know what the ceiling is for Robby, but I still think we haven't seen his ceiling. I think there's a player there that's going to continue to get better, that's going to continue to grow in his role as a leader, and certainly continue to build on his game and get better because I still think there's quite a high ceiling there.

The backbone of all successful teams is goaltending. Do you have that here, and do you think you can build off that foundation?

Yeah. I have relationships with both 'Binner' and Joel [Hofer]. 'Binner' and I had a conversation today about our evolution as him as a player and me as a coach. My first coaching (job) as an assistant coach was when he was at Owen Sound as a goalie. Once I came to the American League with St. Louis, I had 'Binner' in San Antonio and then as a head coach I had 'Binner' here. I've seen the evolution of 'Binner' and I'm extremely proud of the person that he has become. I've seen a lot of growth, obviously, in him as a man, and as a goaltender. To me, both him and Joel are probably one of the best tandems, if not the best tandem, in the NHL right now. I think it's up to us as coaches to start to modify our game a little bit and tactically to make it a little bit easier on them. Certainly all teams have to lean on their goalies at times, and I have no question that these two moving forward are going to be a big part of this team's success. Joel, I've had him since Day 1 in Springfield and what an outstanding person and an outstanding competitor. For a young goalie, I'm really proud of the way he's come in. Him and 'Binner' have worked extremely well together and certainly gave us opportunities to win every night and sometimes stole some games for us. As I said before, I think this duo is going to continue to be one of the best in the league for quite a long time.

How did you see Brayden Schenn adapt to be a captain for the first time?

I think being a captain at any level for the first time is tough, and I've been through that. I think what 'Schenner' went through this year was not only being a first-year captain, but with the change in the coaching, that can be extremely hard on him. The one thing I will say about 'Schenner' and how proud I was of him, certainly in the last eight weeks, was how he played for our team in different situations, whether it was at winger or at center. I think it shows you the growth of him as a person, as a captain, as a player. I thought he played some of our best hockey in the last eight weeks here, where it was really meaningful games. I think that says a lot about the person and the character and the growth of him as a captain, and I think he's gone through a lot of the ups and downs now, and he's matured because of it, and he's a better person and he's a better captain. I think he's going to be a big, big part of the team's success next year.

The Blues had five players with 25-plus goals. Are you missing some secondary scoring, with more guys scoring 10-15 goals?

I mean, you can always sit back and say that you need more goal scoring or you have to let in the puck less in your net. I think we had a lot of excellent performances from our top players in scoring. On the offensive side, I think at times we would get too cute, and I think we have to simplify and be a little bit more direct. I think just being more direct or keeping the puck moving to the offensive zone more often can create a little bit more offense and more opportunities to be able to score. Certainly that would be something moving forward that we'd have to look at as a staff to really, really dial that into to give our guys more opportunity to create offense. But I don't think it was a personnel issue. I think it's something that we have to grow and get better at as a team.

Did Colton Parayko prove that he’s a No. 1 defenseman, and how much did the group as a whole improve?

Yeah, when I think about 'Pary', just from Day 1 when I came here, the amount of minutes he played, the matchups that he had to face, how he played, the professionalism that he came with every day ... such an energetic guy within the room and a real treat as a coach to have on your team. He just gave us a lot of stability back there, regardless of who we played against or who he was playing with. It says a lot about him and his growth. I know, last year was a tough season for him, but the character to come back and have a season like that, from Day 1 until the end of the season, tells you a lot about that player. And he's still a young player. I think you're going to see a player that's going to continue to grow and get better.