The St. Louis Blues scored their way into the playoffs last season, and they got within two seconds of pulling off a massive playoff upset against the Winnipeg Jets. Winnipeg has arguably the best goaltender in the world in Connor Hellebuyck, and the Blues put up 27 goals in those seven games.
They finished 13th in the league last year after finding the net 250 times, a far cry from what they saw under Drew Bannister. When Bannister was at the helm, St. Louis scored just 216 goals across 77 games, or 2.8 per contest.
But that didn't stop The Athletic, in Dom Luszczyszyn, Sean Gentille and Shayna Goldman's season preview of the Blues, from saying, "As great as the Blues looked under Montgomery, the stench of the 2023-24 Bannister Blues lingers in many players’ underlying output. It suggests that some caution should be warranted after just 60 games under a new coach, no matter how good those 60 games looked. The lack of a track record from some of the team’s breakout stars also doesn’t help."
Other than Pavel Buchnevich, whose production is just solid enough that you can say it's not stale, feel free to ask: where are they coming from? Did they check the numbers, because Montgomery coached the same team Bannister did for 60 games last season?
The difference between the two? Bannister's Blues would put you to sleep; they were so boring, while you'd tune into Montgomery's team and ask, "How many goals are they scoring tonight?"
Jim Montgomery's Blues are light years ahead of Drew Bannister's
Jim Montgomery walked into Arch City and changed the culture within weeks. Before we knew it, Dylan Holloway evolved from a potential top-six player to someone who could get first-line minutes if he stays healthy.
Jake Neighbours was up and down to start the season, before he broke through and snagged a career-high 46 points and became a playmaker. Even defenseman Colton Parayko, never known for elite scoring ability, finished the year with 16 goals and a 12.8 shooting percentage. If this were still Bannister's Blues, Parayko would have found twine 10 times if he were lucky.
The Blues ended the year with five players breaking through the 20-goal mark and finished with a sparkling 9.0 shooting percentage at 5-on-5, nearly a full percentage point above the league average of 8.2.
Gone were the slow skating, hesitancy, and dysfunction in the offensive zone, and the Blues hoped goaltenders Jordan Binnington or Joel Hofer would play well enough to give them a chance to sneak away with the win.
These aren't the same old Drew Bannister Blues
Now, guys like Jimmy Snuggerud and Pius Suter are joining the fray. Snuggerud showed he was more than NHL-ready after putting up eight points and three goals in 14 combined regular-season and playoff games.
Then, there's Suter, who enjoyed a 46-point season that included 25 goals last year in Vancouver. If 2024-25 was a breakout year for Suter and you're putting him on a team that turned into one of the NHL's most entertaining units in the offensive zone, you've further distance yourself from the pedestrian group Bannister led.
There's not a single shade of what the Blues were under Bannister, unless you're looking at the names on the jerseys. The difference? Those same players proved, under 60 games with Montgomery, that they can score on even the league's best netminders. Now that they're stronger, expect even more high-octane play this season.