Confirmed with Link: Blues name Drew Bannister head coach, lifting interim tag with 2-year extension

[Louie the Blue]

This is such a treading water deal, very meh, and since the Blues aren't making the playoffs next year they could fire him and hire their dream candidate if he is available June 2025.

Also gives him a chance to plan a full offseason and focus on developing the younger players.

It was pretty obvious that at 1-0 Toronto in the third period in Boston the Blues were maybe about to get a new coach, but then everyone was like, oh that's right, this is Toronto. So we are keeping Bannister. He is somewhere in the Davis Payne / Mike Yeo ballpark, seemingly. Those guys were easy to fire, and so will be Bannister unless he makes it tough by overperforming expectations.

I think Payne is a fair comparison. I don’t think Bannister is bad, but he hasn’t been a HC in the NHL before, had a decent time as interim HC, and there’s no reason not to give him a chance when there doesn’t seem to be an immediate upgrade available.

If he works out, great. If not, bring someone more experienced ala what Armstrong did with Hitchcock to improve the team.

Yeo was easy to fire because the team was a mess and missed the POs in 2018 when they shouldn’t have.

He had a small track record as HC with Minnesota while Bannister is a clean slate.

Yeo is probably really the only HC Armstrong hired who was a bad HC. He didn’t hire Payne (at least from my understanding Pleau was still in charge), but if he had any input I’d say Payne was just OK. Hitchcock and Berube were good. Probably should’ve moved on from Hitchcock after 2015 or 2016 in retrospect. Think he made the right call on Berube at the right time.

 

[TheOrganist]

if your complaint is waiting on BrindAmour or Montgomery, id imagine the short answer is they aren’t moving, or weren’t interested.

I find it hard to believe that Boston would move on from Montgomery, and I see virtually 0 reason why Carolina wouldn’t re-up BrindAmours contract.

Not to mention, why in the world would either of those coaches move on from perennial playoff teams to come sit through a couple of seasons of a rewhatever this is?

This isn’t a knee jerk oh my god we have to do something hire. But it is something that needed to be done sooner rather than later with the draft coming up.

Where do we pivot if we wait until the end of the playoffs and we don’t have a head coach and neither of those guys want to sign? And Bannister had a different offer that he accepted because he didn’t want to wait either?

Bannister coached this team to a winning record. Let’s not act like hes not suitable for the opportunity.

Unlike some of the more non-sensical rumors discussed on this forum, the Monty situation did seem plausible. Cam Neely is an impulsive hot head and there was probably a 50/50 chance Monty legitimately gets fired if they lose that game. That fact combined with his personal relationship to the City of St. Louis gave this speculation some legit legs. It’s likely not a coincidence Bannister is extended shortly after Boston won.

 

[Xerloris]

if your complaint is waiting on BrindAmour or Montgomery, id imagine the short answer is they aren’t moving, or weren’t interested.

I find it hard to believe that Boston would move on from Montgomery, and I see virtually 0 reason why Carolina wouldn’t re-up BrindAmours contract.

Not to mention, why in the world would either of those coaches move on from perennial playoff teams to come sit through a couple of seasons of a rewhatever this is?

This isn’t a knee jerk oh my god we have to do something hire. But it is something that needed to be done sooner rather than later with the draft coming up.

Where do we pivot if we wait until the end of the playoffs and we don’t have a head coach and neither of those guys want to sign? And Bannister had a different offer that he accepted because he didn’t want to wait either?

Bannister coached this team to a winning record. Let’s not act like hes not suitable for the opportunity.

Our only hope for either Monty or RBA was their teams being bounced in the 1st round and when neither of those happened, well it's time to move on.

 

[BlueDream]

I get why people are underwhelmed by this.

But hey, it could be worse. I’d say the Senators hiring Travis Green is WAY more underwhelming for that fanbase. Yeesh.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

I had Bannister as 4th on my list for coaching behind RBA/Monty/Carle. With where the team is currently, I think there’s more upside to taking a shot on a fresh coach than hiring some mid-tier guy who’s been around a bit as I think we’d be unnecessarily burning shelf life on a coach before we’re supposed to be on the upswing. And who knows, maybe Bannister can turn into a successful long term coach like a Bednar or Cooper.

 

[Reality Czech]

nobody said that they were the only 2 candidates. i said we were waiting on those 2 (and we may have interviewed others, but those names haven't leaked). and yes, that is speculation, but it is consistent with what we know and only makes small logical leaps; that almost qualifies as fact on here!

regardless, are you upset that we hired bannister? that we didn't hire evason or gallant or whomever? or do you just want to complain about army again because he misused a particular word a couple press conferences ago?

Some people are just conditioned to complain no matter what happens. Especially around these parts.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

regardless, are you upset that we hired bannister?

I couldn't give a shit less about who our head coach is. Nothing changes until we get rid of the problem in the organization that people get somewhat chilly on when things finally get really bad but the moment things turn vaguely around, they go back to singing hallelujahs and offering hosannas like his presence here is a true blessing from on high.

But ... you don't want to listen to me. Maybe @PocketNines can convince you all instead.

 

[Drubilly]

I couldn't give a shit less about who our head coach is. Nothing changes until we get rid of the problem in the organization that people get somewhat chilly on when things finally get really bad but the moment things turn vaguely around, they go back to singing hallelujahs and offering hosannas like his presence here is a true blessing from on high.

But ... you don't want to listen to me. Maybe @PocketNines can convince you all instead.

Army was interviewed this am during Karaker’s ESPN 101 show. Army said actuary table again and I almost snarfed my coffee. I immediately thought Army 1/Ted nil.

 

[PocketNines]

"Some people are conditioned to complain"

More vile disgusting attacks on process, not substance from the same source

It's not their argument which is bad, it's their own bad faith - the argument literally every time from just the weakest followers who get riled if you don't follow the men they choose to follow

 

[bleedblue1223]

It's a stepping stone coach in a period where we aren't expected to really compete. Not sure why we have to end up in arguments on such meaningless topics.

I hope he proves he's not a stepping stone coach and kills it, but most likely it's a Davis Payne type situation, which is fine for our situation.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I couldn't give a shit less about who our head coach is. Nothing changes until we get rid of the problem in the organization that people get somewhat chilly on when things finally get really bad but the moment things turn vaguely around, they go back to singing hallelujahs and offering hosannas like his presence here is a true blessing from on high.

But ... you don't want to listen to me. Maybe @PocketNines can convince you all instead.

I swear like a day ago you were advocating a scenario where Toronto would offer compensation to get to talk to Armstrong and offer so much money he couldn’t say No. Why should the Blues fire him when they can parlay value for him?

 

[Brian39]

I had Bannister as 4th on my list for coaching behind RBA/Monty/Carle. With where the team is currently, I think there’s more upside to taking a shot on a fresh coach than hiring some mid-tier guy who’s been around a bit as I think we’d be unnecessarily burning shelf life on a coach before we’re supposed to be on the upswing. And who knows, maybe Bannister can turn into a successful long term coach like a Bednar or Cooper.

I think that was my list as well (in no particular order for the top 3).

With that said, I've never thought that Rod is actually available. I think that his camp has been using the media to negotiate a higher salary and/or more organizational power and that a deal will either get done or he will take time off from coaching to consider his options and move to his 'perfect' situation. I could be wrong about that, but I wouldn't have been wild about leaving our job vacant for the amount of time required for him to completely exhaust negotiations with Carolina.

I think the writing is on the wall that the Bruins will not be firing Monty this spring.

I think it has become clear that Carle has decided to stay at DU for at least one more season. None of us will ever know what we pitched him when we spoke to him (as reported by Friedman on 32 Thoughts), so I can't criticize Army for 'not getting it done.'

We hit a point where all my 'top' options became non-options for the 2024/25 season. We didn't lose on Carle to another NHL team, Monty still has a contract with another NHL team, and even though he doesn't have a contract at the moment I don't think Rod is actually going anywhere else for 2024/25.

I think any of the 3 might be available for 2025/26 and I don't think Bannister's contract would prevent us from chasing them in the future. It is a 2 year deal and even though salary is undisclosed, it is a pretty safe bet that Bannister will be one of the lowest paid head coaches in the league. This is a water treading move, but given the status of the guys I wanted to target, I'd rather tread water than lock ourselves in to a veteran coach for longer term and/or significantly more money.

I'd rather tread water with Bannister than jump into the deep end with a lot of the other candidates getting/seeking jobs right now.

With all that said, as unexciting as the move feels, I do think that there are some genuine positives to Bannister that are probably being overlooked.

We did play at a 98 point pace under him after 110 games of playing at an 80 point pace under Berube leading up to the change. I chalk a lot of that up to the goalies bailing out the team, but I don't think that an objective observer could look at last year's roster and expect much better than a 98 point team. Repeatability is a big question, but we did tangibly improve our results under him.

He's familiar with a lot of the young guys that we should be trying to develop on the fly next year. I was pleased with his usage of Kessel this year and that's a guy he coached in the AHL. He had Bolduc for his first couple months as a pro in the AHL and then for another 25 games in the NHL. I was encouraged by Bolduc's limited NHL time this year. I was thrilled with the season we got from Neighbours and Bannister has now coached him for parts of 2 seasons of his development. I was thrilled with Hofer's play this year and Bannister has coached him through several seasons now. All 4 of these guys should be viewed as important organizational pieces in the medium term and I think that all of them are developing nicely through our system. That doesn't mean Bannister deserves all the credit for their development, but I think you can feel more comfortable in their continued development trajectory with him than a new coach that has never interacted with them before.

One of his jobs was to get Kyrou going and that did in fact happen. Kyrou scored at a 39 goal pace under Bannister and he did it without seeing a huge backslide in the defensive improvements he made while Berube was still here (an element of his game that Berube deserves plenty of credit for). Barring an unexpected blockbuster, getting the most out of Kyrou is very much going to be part of our coach's job.

He's going to need to keep progressing and improve the defensive structure in order to make it to/through the end of this contract, but it isn't like he just did nothing. The roster he was given improved under him and I think our young players have been developing under him.

 

[LetsGoBooze]

For where the state of the franchise is, i like it. Not expecting much these next two years, outside of adding a few more high end prospects and allowing some of these albatross vet contracts expire. Then in two years, once weve started building back a competitive NHL roster, this deal expires. Good stop gap, and he can be the whipping boy if the casual fans determine another coach needs to be fired/hired. Not my long term choice, but fits my own personal short term vision for this team.

 

[Celtic Note]

From an excitement standpoint it’s pretty meh. But, it makes logical sense given the transition period. You can benefit from a fall guy / bad cop / player development coach.

You get the added benefit of either hitting on the guy no one knows about and looking good or you replace him down the line with someone who inspires hope from fans.

Another benefit could be hiring a new coach when you start to get good and hit next level, and not having a coach with messaging getting stale.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

It’s been fun reading HF alter-egos supporting each other in their arguments.

 

[Drubilly]

It’s been fun reading HF alter-egos supporting each other in their arguments.

Sometimes I wonder….

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Sometimes I wonder….

I've had my suspicions.

 

[Reality Czech]

"Some people are conditioned to complain"

More vile disgusting attacks on process, not substance from the same source

It's not their argument which is bad, it's their own bad faith - the argument literally every time from just the weakest followers who get riled if you don't follow the men they choose to follow

Vile and disgusting? This is a joke right? I honestly don't give a crap if people agree with me or not or who decides to "follow" Army or not. Doesn't affect my life. However I do find it annoying to read the same complaints over and over again and people who've decided they hate Armstrong twist everything into a criticism. It's easy to pretend like you've got all the answers when you're not the one in the position to actually make these massive decisions.

I don't agree with every decision Army made but I'm also satisified with the overall body of work. Honestly I'm lukewarm on Bannister as head coach but it's not hard to understand why he was their choice. We should be happy for the guy who's climbed the coaching ladder for over a decade to earn his first proper NHL HC job. People often complain (shockingly) about the same old recycled head coaches getting all the gigs, so at least those people should be happy someone new is getting a shot.

Where's the substance in your post by the way? Your personal attack on me is a lot harsher than anything I've said, but I already know what you're all about, which is why I rarely bother interacting with you. I've said it before but some of y'all take this shit way too seriously. I see so much bitterness and negativity that it gets old sometimes. I love hockey and I will alway be a diehard Blues fan but coming to this forum is quite often a buzzkill. At least the ignore list comes in handy. Feel free to put me on it if my opinions bother you so much.

 

[LogosBlue]

Honestly, seeing the transition period we are going thru as a team I'm not surprised. It's almost like DA is saying they are taking the interim 'tag' off of Banister but really they are not. I may be reading this wrong but I give the guy one full season / maybe two at most until DA really finds what he is looking for in a HC. Banisters record with us wasn't bad but his overall record as a coach (minor league included) hasn't been anything to really write home about either. This is just a stop gap without the tag and Bannister is willing to work with all the kids we will be bringing in over the next two years. He is used to dealing with that age group and development level. I see why DA did what he did.

 

[GoldenSeal]

The Mystic Magic Board strikes again!