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Around the NHL: The Blues make a coaching change, hiring Jim Montgomery
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Photo credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Ryley Delaney
Nov 24, 2024, 16:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 24, 2024, 12:17 EST
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Jim Montgomery has already found a new job.
On Sunday morning, it was reported by numerous sources that the head coach was hired by the St. Louis Blues, who fired Drew Bannister at the same time.
Last Tuesday, the Boston Bruins fired Montgomery after his team started the season 8-9-3. This was despite the fact he had a 120-41-23 record behind the bench as the Bruins head coach. Since then, the Bruins have won both games and occupy the final Wild Card spot.
As for Bannister, he played 164 games in the National Hockey League with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, and New York Rangers, before playing the rest of his career overseas. He spent time as an assistant coach and head coach in the Ontario Hockey League and American Hockey League, before replacing Craig Berube after starting the 2023-24 season 13-14-1.
Over the 76 games with Bannister as the head coach, the Blues went 39-31-6, including a 9-12-1 record to start the 2024-25 season.

Sidney Crosby scored his 600th career goal

Sidney Crosby is one of the greatest players of all time, and he reached the 600-goal milestone on Saturday evening against the Utah Hockey Club.
Crosby was selected first overall all the way back in the 2005 draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He’s gone on to have a terrific career, adding 1,017 assists for 1,617 points in 1,295 games. Moreover, he’s one of just two players (you know who the other one is) who has scored 600 goals, 1,600 points, three Stanley Cups, and two Conn Smythe Trophies.
The Penguins are the only team with two players that have scored 600 or more goals with the organization, as Mario Lemieux scored 690 goals with the Penguins.
What a terrific career Crosby has had and hopefully he can keep the good times rolling.

Joe Thornton’s number was retired by the Sharks

Speaking of terrific careers, the San Jose Sharks retired Joe Thornton’s No. 19 on Saturday evening.
Thornton was selected first overall in the 1997 draft by the Boston Bruins and spent parts of his first eight seasons with the team. In late Nov. 2005, the Bruins sent him to the Sharks, where he spent the next 15 seasons of his career.
In the twilight of his career, Thornton played for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2020-21 and the Florida Panthers in 2021-22 in an attempt to win the elusive Stanley Cup. Although he didn’t win it, he’ll go down as one of the best playmakers in National Hockey League history, picking up 1,109 assists and 430 goals for 1,539 points in 1,714 games.
Moreover, he scored 32 goals and 134 points in 187 post-season games, going on several deep runs in the postseason with the Sharks, including his one and only trip to the Stanley Cup in 2016.
Personally, Thornton was my favourite player growing up. Tragically, he’ll never get a Stanley Cup ring as a player, but he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer and it’s nice to see the Sharks put his number in the rafters.
Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.

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