SHOCKING NEWS: Blues Drew Bannister threatens to terminate his new appointment if…
St. Louis Blues name Drew Bannister full-time coach after interim role
May 7 (UPI) — The St. Louis Blues removed the interim tag from coach Drew Bannister’s title and signed him to a two-year contract extension, they announced Tuesday.
The Blues fired former head coach. The Blues fired former head coach Craig Berube and named Bannister interim coach Dec. 12. Berube led the Blues to a 13-14-1 record through 28 games this season. They went 30-19-5 under Bannister.
Drew Bannister
and named Bannister interim coach Dec. 12. Berube led the Blues to a 13-14-1 record through 28 games this season. They went 30-19-5 under Bannister.
The Blues (43-33-6) failed to make the playoffs for the second-consecutive season. They were 206-132-44 in six seasons under Berube, including their 2018-19 Stanley Cup title run.
Bannister, 50, played as an NHL defenseman from 1995 through 2001. He later played for teams in Russia, Germany and Finland and in the AHL, but never returned to the NHL as a player.
Bannister was a player and assistant coach in 2010 for the Hull Stingrays of the British Elite Ice Hockey League. He served as a player and head coach for the Braehead Clan, of the same league, in 2011.
Bannister served as assistant coach for the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) Owen Sound Attack from 2012 to 2015. He left that job in 2015 to become coach of the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
He worked as a head coach of the San Antonio Rampage and Springfield Thunderbirds, AHL affiliates of the Blues, before his tenure as interim coach for the NHL squad.
St. Louis Blues Make Bold Decision With Drew Bannister
The St. Louis Blues made a huge decision during the 2023-24 NHL regular season, moving on from head coach Craig Berube on December 13th, and naming Drew Bannister the interim head coach. Bannister was taking over a team that got off to a slow 13-14-1 start under Berube and was looking to shake things up.
Berube oversaw the team’s only Stanley Cup victory in 2019 when he took over for Mike Yeo 19 games into the season. The team responded to him in a major way, similar to this year’s squad when he was replaced.
The St. Louis Blues looked like a totally different team under Drew Bannister after a tepid start with Berube. Because of the success the team had, Bannister has had the interim tag removed and been named the next coach of the Blues.
He is the 27th coach in franchise history, agreeing to a two-year contract per Blues president of hockey operations and general manager Doug Armstrong. It is a job that Bannister earned, as he helped turn the season around in St. Louis.
In 54 games with Drew Bannister, the St. Louis Blues had a record of 30-19-5. Their 92 points put them in fifth place in the Central Division of the Western Conference, finishing six points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the final wild card spot.
Where the team saw their biggest improvement under Drew Bannister was defensively and in goal prevention. Before he took over the team, they were 23rd in team goals against average but improved to 12th by the end of the season.
Despite missing the playoffs for a second consecutive season, there was a major improvement from the team. The Blues had 11 more points compared to the 2022-23 campaign, providing optimism that they are heading in the right direction.
“I strongly believe in this group, and 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,” Bannister said.
Leave a Reply