The St. Louis Blues took the interim tag off of Drew Bannister’s title, naming him their new head coach.
Bannister, 50, signed a two-year contract, according to Blues president of hockey operations and general manager Doug Armstrong. He becomes the 27th head coach in franchise history.
He was named interim head coach on Dec. 12, 2023, after the team fired Craig Berube. In 54 regular-season games, the Blues had a 30-19-5 record (65 points) under Bannister, who also helped them improve from 23rd to 12th in team goals-against average.
Overall, the Blues improved by 11 points in the standings year over year, although the team missed the playoffs for the second straight season.
“You’re just looking, like: ‘Is there any better out there? Is there something different that we’re missing?” Armstrong said Tuesday on a video call with reporters. “We just came back to our group that Drew had done what we’d asked him to do. We see progression. We see someone that’s earned the right to take the reins and we move forward.”
After three seasons behind the bench with the Soo Greyhounds of the OHL, Bannister spent six seasons coaching in the American Hockey League, including three seasons with the Blues’ affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.
“[This is] something I’ve been working towards and something that I wanted for myself, my family moving forward,” said Bannister, who played 178 NHL games in the 1990s and early 2000s and was at peace with his status in recent weeks. “It can be a stressful time, but I felt by the end of the year that I’d done a lot of positive things with the players, with the team. Certainly, was disappointing the way it ended up for us, but overall, I was happy with the strides we made.”
Armstrong said all assistants would return under Bannister, who will be tasked with building lasting relationships with the leadership group of captain Brayden Schenn, All-Star Robert Thomas and defensemen Colton Parayko and Justin Faulk, among others. He likes what he has seen so far in that and other departments enough to trust Bannister with the direction of the franchise.
“He did a very good job in a difficult situation last year,” Armstrong said. “Now having a full training camp and two-year term to put his stamp on this team, we’re looking forward to that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
