Blues lose Montgomery, gain MacTavish

Two-year assistant coach leaves St. Louis for head coaching position with 

Boston; former Blue, Cup champion, coach, GM to fill void, join Berube's staff

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Doug Armstrong knew at the time that being able to keep all of the Blues' assistant coaches would be next to impossible.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Veteran Craig MacTavish joins Blues as assistant coach, replacing the

departed Jim Montgomery, who was named head coach in Boston.

When the Blues' general manager spoke to the media wrapping up the 2021-22 season over a month ago, he knew then there was a good chance at least one of his assistant coaches would draw interest for a head coaching position.

On Friday, that came to fruition when Jim Montgomery was named head coach of the Boston Bruins, leaving a temporary void for one of the better set of assistant coaches along with Steve Ott, Mike Van Ryn, David Alexander and Sean Ferrell.

But in knowing he'd lose somebody, Armstrong and staff were on the ball in searching for a viable and experienced replacement and didn't waste any time in finding one with the addition of veteran Craig MacTavish to fill Montgomery's role on Craig Berube's staff.

The 63-year-old MacTavish, who played his final two NHL seasons with the Blues (1995-97), has been there, done that and seen it all when it comes to the NHL. He's a four-time Stanley Cup champion (Edmonton in 1987, 1988 and 1990, and with the New York Rangers in 1994); a head coach with the Oilers for eight seasons, leading them to a 301-252-47-56 regular-season record and three playoff appearances, including a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2006; he's been the senior vice president of hockey operations before spending two seasons as Edmonton's general manager, was a head coach of the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League, an assistant coach with the Rangers and most recently in 2019-20 was coach of Yaroslavl Lokomotiv of the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia. 

MacTavish had a 17-year NHL career, including 1,093 regular-season games and 193 playoff games; he was an All-Star in 1996. Originally drafted in the ninth round (No. 153 overall) of the 1978 NHL Draft, the center iceman played for five different franchises, including Boston, Edmonton, the Rangers, Philadelphia and the Blues.

"After I got information that Jim was down the path with Boston maybe a couple weeks ago, maybe longer, I started the process with Craig (Berube) identifying with people he may want to join our staff," Armstrong said. "Craig MacTavish's name was at the top of that list from the start of the process. Craig's talked to him on numerous occasions, I've talked to him, we've done our due diligence and feel he'll be an excellent support guy for Craig and his staff. His background is well-known as a player, as a coach, as a manager. 

"One of the things we were hoping to get was what we had with Jim Montgomery is someone that Craig can lean on from a been-there, done-that experience as a head coach. Obviously you look at the number of games 'MacT' has coached at ... there's going to be nothing that we're going to see moving forward that he hasn't dealt with. I also think for the development of the rest of our staff, Steve Ott, David Alexander, Mike Van Ryn, having someone with 'MacT's experience is only going to help further their careers with the knowledge he can give them and the understanding. I thought it was a really good situation to bring an experienced guy into our staff."

The Blues, who were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by eventual Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, wanted to keep an established and veteran coaching staff to continue the upward trend it had this past season. Montgomery, who came to the Blues two seasons ago after he was let go as head coach by the Dallas Stars as a result of personal issues related to alcoholism, was the orchestrator of a penalty kill that ranked fifth in the NHL this past season at 84.1 percent, up from the 77.8 percent the previous season that was 25th in the league.

"For our group, where we are with Mike and Steve and David, they probably haven't started the prime of their coaching careers, but still learning from someone that I thought could bring in those experiences but also giving Craig someone to talk to on a day-to-day basis," Armstrong said. "It's always nice to have someone in the trenches that knows what you're going through but above and beyond that, he's such a great person. I don't know if you guys have had the chance to know 'MacT' at all but when you do your research on him, he's got an unbelievably positive personality, people gravitate to him, he makes everyone feel at ease. He's just an ultimate team player. I think having that type of attitude in our group, the players are really going to enjoy having him around and I think the coaches will."

MacTavish has most recently done work with Oilers broadcasts on Sportsnet and on TSN; he hasn't been in the coaching ranks the past two seasons.

"I talked to some people that I knew, sort of to just gauge where he was at and they all said that he loved coaching and wanted to get back into coaching," Armstrong said. "I had heard that a couple years ago, but then things had changed. So I was very comfortable that he had wanted to get back behind the bench and I think at his position now, he's just looking to help people better themselves and be part of something bigger than himself and as part of a team. When I brought that to Craig, he was very excited about it. And then when I called 'MacT' to gauge his interest, he did have interest. He loved his time in St. Louis. The transition's going to be for him. When you guys get to talk to him, you're going to realize how quickly he puts you at ease and to talk. But you could tell the excitement in his voice. He enjoyed doing the television, but at the end of the day, he's a hockey coach.

"The way he broke the Oilers down on Sportsnet was outstanding. I thought how quickly he got to the point, his vision of what he was seeing was very current. He does a lot of stuff with youth hockey in Edmonton. He's a rink rat. He loves the game, he loves the people in the game. When we did talk, he said, 'The game hasn't changed, the people in the game have changed.' They're younger and they're different and he's got kids the players' age. He's going to be very adaptable. He reminds me a lot of Larry Robinson in that sense that way that just when he walks into a room, the room gets brighter and the knowledge is four Stanley Cups (as a player) and coaching, managing and being in every aspect of the game. It's someone that I think everyone is going to enjoy working with from the coaches to the players to the trainers to everyone around our group. I think this could be a really good marriage."

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Jim Montgomery leaves the Blues after two seasons after being named 

head coach of the Boston Bruins on Friday.

As for Montgomery, things have finally come full circle for the 53-year-old after spending the past two seasons with the Blues.

"Jim did an admirable and excellent job here for the time with our group," Armstrong said. "Our special teams were very good; he was a big part of that, just our overall record. I think he'll do a great job with the Bruins and I wish he and his family nothing but the best.

 
"When he was let go in Dallas, we obviously let the dust settle. He had to get his personal life in order and then I met with him here in St. Louis and I could tell he had a great passion for the game and the game was in the proper perspective overall in his life. Just to see the work that he did away from the rink, to see the type of family man that he is and seeing his kids around the rink and getting to meet his wife, he's in a really good spot and he's earned the opportunity for a second chance to be a head coach and he doesn't take that for granted. I know he's going to do a helluva a job."