Blues name Drew Bannister coach, remove interim tag
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.
Armstrong said after the season that Bannister was a candidate to become head coach.
"When we made the coaching change. I was creating a list [of potential coaches]. The list was deep and extensive. As I watched him perform and I watched our team perform, I started to cross names off that list, and now Drew is one of a very small number of people I want to talk to about it moving forward," he said.
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.
Bannister was optimistic about the Blues' chances next season.
"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," he said.
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