When the Blues trucked the Chicago Blackhawks in a forceful 6-2 takeover of Wrigley Field on New Year’s Eve, the victory reaffirmed something that we should have known by now.
Which is …
The Blues are a different team since the vivacious Jim Montgomery took over as coach following Drew Bannister’s sacking on Nov. 23. If anything it seems that too many folks don’t quite understand the magnitude of the team’s improvement since the coaching change.
More wins. Fewer losses. More goals scored. Fewer goals allowed. More high-danger scoring chances for the Blues, and fewer high-danger chances yielded to the bad guys. On and on.
The Blues have had one lull under Montgomery, going 2-4-2 in a stretch of games that followed the team’s 4-0-1 start under the new boss. But that quiet stretch didn’t define this team. The Blues have enhanced their performance in too many areas to have their identity formed by one unsatisfactory expanse of schedule.
I’m happy to break it down for us …
TEAM RECORD, BEFORE & AFTER THE CHANGE
– The Blues were 9-12-1 in Bannister’s 22 games as the director for a points percentage of .432 that ranked 26th among the NHL’s 32 teams.
– Under Montgomery the Blues are 9-5-3 in 17 games for a .618 points percentage that is tied for fifth best in the NHL since Monty made his debut behind the St. Louis bench on Nov. 25.
That’s a significant difference. To put it another way: with Bannister as coach, the Blues were on pace for a hideous 71-point season. But based on their brisk pace in Montgomery’s first 17 games, the Blues would finish with 102 points over the full 82-game schedule.
CONTROLLING THE GOAL SHARE
– In Bannister’s 22 games the Blues were outscored by a whopping 74-53. That means they scored only 41.7 percent of the goals in the 22 contests. And that 41.7% goal share ranked 26th in the league through Nov. 23.
– Montgomery: the Blues have outscored opponents 53-43 with Monty for a robust goal share of 55.2 percent that ranks No. 8 in the league.
WINNING THE BATTLE AT 5-ON-5 HOCKEY
The difference is remarkable.
The sputtering Blues scored a meager 42 percent of the 5-on-5 goals under Bannister, a poor rate that ranked near the bottom of the league at No. 26. They were outscored by 15 goals, 53-38, at 5-on-5. Just awful.
Since GM Doug Armstrong made the coaching switch, the Blues have turned into a dominant club at 5-on-5, outscoring the enemy by 11 goals, 34-23. That 59.6 percent goal share at 5-on-5 ranks No. 2 in the NHL since Monty’s arrival. The only team better than St. Louis over that time is Tampa Bay at 60.6 percent.
STINGY, MISERLY GOAL PREVENTION
It’s been a huge turnaround. The Blues were bleeding before the coaching flip, ranking 25th with an average of 3.33 goals allowed per 60 minutes. But after Montgomery reorganized the team’s setup to cut down on odd-man rushes and put more emphasis on thinning traffic in slot-and-crease areas, the Blues rank 8th in the league with an average of 2.50 goals yielded per 60 minutes.
And the dramatic improvement is further revealed by looking at the combined save percentage of goaltenders Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer. Before the coaching change, the Blues ranked 25th in the league with an. 898 save percentage at 5-on-5. (They were 23rd with an overall save percentage of .885.) But since Montgomery was brought in to straighten a sloppy team defensively, the Binnington and Hofer have combined for the NHL’s best save percentage (.938) at 5-on-5. And they rank No. 8 with an overall save percentage of .907.
Under Bannister, the Blues were perforated for four or more goals in 45.4 percent of their games. The Note has ceded four-plus goals only 29 percent of the time with Montgomery supervising. Monty’s Blues haven’t allowed more than five goals in a competition Opponents have been limited to three goals or fewer in 70.5 percent of the Montgomery-coached games and have managed no more than two goals scored in 47 percent of the games.
GOAL SCORING HAS INCREASED
The Blues still have issues offensively but are doing much better with Montgomery in charge. Before the coaching swap, the Blues ranked 30th among 32 teams with an average of 2.34 goals per 60 minutes (all strengths.) But the boys are putting more pucks in the net under Monty, ranking 12th in the NHL by averaging 3.08 goals per 60 minutes at all strengths.
After scoring three or more goals in 41 percent of Bannister-coached games this season, the Blues have scored 3+ goals in just under 60 percent of Montgomery’s games.
Under Bannister the Blues scored no more than three goals in 81.8 percent of their games; that has dropped to 58.8% with Montgomery in place.
The Bannister version of the Blues were held to no more than two goals in 13 of his 22 games, or 59 percent. The Blues have been limited to two goals or less in only 41 percent of Monty’s games.
REVERSING THE TRENDS IN CRUCIAL HIGH-DANGER ZONES
The Blues scored 45.7 percent of the high-danger goals (slot and crease) in their games under Bannister. Montgomery has improved that by a lot – up to 55.2 percent of the high-danger goals – in his first 17 games. Playing for Bannister, the Blues were 18th in the NHL at high-danger shot percentage at 5-on-5, and that’s improved to the No. 8 ranking with Montgomery. The Blues were getting overrun in high-danger zones before the coaching change, but Montgomery has turned that key area of the ice into a Blues’ advantage. That’s a big deal.
The Blues have a chance to make the playoffs. To an extent they are still a longshot, but this much is certain: this team had no chance whatsoever of making the playoffs before Armstrong intervened to hire Montgomery. Army swooped in after Montgomery was fired by Boston despite leading the Bruins to the league’s best record (120-41-23) in his two-plus seasons as coach.
Thanks for reading and Happy 2025!
–Bernie
