The St. Louis Blues must be idle watching the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs and made some news today. General Manager Doug Armstrong made an announcement today regarding the club’s head coach situation. They have announced that Drew Bannister will have the interim tagged removed and become the club’s head coach. Moreover, the deal he signed today is a two-year contract to be the bench boss of the Blues.
The #stlblues have removed the interim tag from Drew Bannister and officially named him head coach. He signed a two-year contract.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) May 7, 2024
Drew Bannister Removes Interim Tag to Become Head Coach of the St. Louis Blues
Bannister has been with the Blues organization for the past six seasons. He had led the AHL affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds as head coach to a Calder Cup finals appearance. Also, he had various coaching roles in the AHL with the San Antonio Rampage and the Utica Comets. Prior to the AHL, he had spent parts of six seasons honing is craft at the junior ranks. The players like him, he has rose through the ranks, and now he gets the opportunity at the NHL level.
What Did He Mean to the Blues thus Far
The St. Louis Blues didn’t take very long to axe previous Head Coach Craig Berube in 2023-24 after a 13-14-1 start. At that time, Drew Bannister took over in an interim basis as head coach. He finished the season 30-19-5, as the Blues finished fifth in the NHL’s Central Division standings. Furthermore, he must have established a commitment to defence structure, based on his two goaltenders’ numbers. Both were among the league leaders in various categories. For example, in goals saved above expected, Jordan Binnington was fifth at 16.5 and rookie Joel Hofer was 17th at 10.3. Additionally, he made improvements on the other side of the puck. After he took over, the club jumped from 31stto 13th (22.8%) on the power play. In any sense, he definitely left a good impression on the players and organization as a whole.
Main photo: Jeff Le – USA Today Sports
