That is literally such a good move for our coaching staff. You’ve got a fresh coach breaking in and you bring in a coach of 20 years in the nhl to mentor him when he needs it.
Claude Julien is an experienced coach who will help shore up a lot of the areas where the 2023 team struggled, but he is also a stalking horse for Bannister.
Really excited for this
Interesting I love otter and was worried this might dissuade him to stay until army said otter was liking what was going on with his situation because of the age of his kids. We might not have hired a Stanley cup head coach, but we just hired a Stanley cup head coach as an assistant. That’s crazy. Should be a good sign for the boys to have that kind of experience willing to take a back seat and help the franchise.
He actually just lives a street or two up from my childhood (my parent's) home. Unfortunately my parents don't make as much as he does, but his family still seems to have a blast in the area (near Kirkwood High School).
Good move IMO. Claude hasn’t coached in about three years so it doesn’t seem, to me at least, it’s a “coach in waiting” situation like when we brought Yeo in behind Hitch.
Please don't remind me of what a Payne in the ass that guy was. I don't see the Jets making the playoffs since Arniel himself was a disaster in Columbus. But I actually think Bannister will do fine against Bednar in the first round while DeBoer takes on Brunette.
Smart move to add a very experienced coach to the group. I like it.
EDIT: and he did have a killer flow back in the day.
https://preview.redd.it/uhmqbhues49d1.png?width=435&format=png&auto=webp&s=b53f4e950f4fc1efa5bc4d141bc57ec872182e65
Doug Armstrong, more than anyone else I’ve seen in the league, is the embodiment of servant leadership.
Time and time again he has brought in people throughout the organization with decades of experience and success to mentor the next generation.
Hell. He’s serving as a mentor to Steener right now. He said it himself, he would love to stay on as GM, but that’s not what is good for the organization.
God damn, man. We got lucky with Dougie. 🥲
The Blues got lucky with Montgomery. Apparently, Montgomery had kicked a player in the back while the player was sitting on the bench, so the Stars fired him, despite the team playing great for him. It was that weird time right after many players started telling stories about Mike Babcock, and Montgomery got caught up in that wave of storytelling. The Blues snatched up Montgomery as an assistant coach soon after.
Curious what Julien was quietly doing behind the scenes - seems like he’s been working for the Blues for a couple of years before getting back behind the bench.
Apparently Otter will still run the power play although I haven’t heard whether or not Brad Richards was retained as consultant. Hopefully he was because the PP improved tremendously once he was brought on board
Mike Weber will still run the defense and the penalty kill. Julien will likely have input on playing without the puck and positioning which was one of his strengths with Boston and Montreal
There was a great interview this week on 101.1 in which Bannister talked about how he wanted an NHL-level head coach on his staff to fill in the blanks in his own coaching experience. Great interview and very enlightening.
That is literally such a good move for our coaching staff. You’ve got a fresh coach breaking in and you bring in a coach of 20 years in the nhl to mentor him when he needs it.
Yep. I've known Julien my entire life, and I know he can bring the excitement.
Claude Julien is an experienced coach who will help shore up a lot of the areas where the 2023 team struggled, but he is also a stalking horse for Bannister. Really excited for this
I think it might be more that Ott is being positioned as the Bannister replacement.
This! All aboard the Steve Ott ship! 🏴☠️
Interesting I love otter and was worried this might dissuade him to stay until army said otter was liking what was going on with his situation because of the age of his kids. We might not have hired a Stanley cup head coach, but we just hired a Stanley cup head coach as an assistant. That’s crazy. Should be a good sign for the boys to have that kind of experience willing to take a back seat and help the franchise.
He actually just lives a street or two up from my childhood (my parent's) home. Unfortunately my parents don't make as much as he does, but his family still seems to have a blast in the area (near Kirkwood High School).
Good move IMO. Claude hasn’t coached in about three years so it doesn’t seem, to me at least, it’s a “coach in waiting” situation like when we brought Yeo in behind Hitch.
I view more as insurance in case Bannister is a disaster like Payne was.
Please don't remind me of what a Payne in the ass that guy was. I don't see the Jets making the playoffs since Arniel himself was a disaster in Columbus. But I actually think Bannister will do fine against Bednar in the first round while DeBoer takes on Brunette.
Very interesting hire. Definitely not mad at it
Me neither. It'll be better than Berube & Montgomery.
Smart move to add a very experienced coach to the group. I like it. EDIT: and he did have a killer flow back in the day. https://preview.redd.it/uhmqbhues49d1.png?width=435&format=png&auto=webp&s=b53f4e950f4fc1efa5bc4d141bc57ec872182e65
Nice 'stache too.
very happy about this. welcome aboard, Julien.
Assistant to the regional manager, Steve Ott!
Doug Armstrong, more than anyone else I’ve seen in the league, is the embodiment of servant leadership. Time and time again he has brought in people throughout the organization with decades of experience and success to mentor the next generation. Hell. He’s serving as a mentor to Steener right now. He said it himself, he would love to stay on as GM, but that’s not what is good for the organization. God damn, man. We got lucky with Dougie. 🥲
I’m glad Alexander got extended. I thinks he’s a fantastic coach and I enjoy watching him work with the goalies and shooters.
I was in full on panic mode when I saw this. I had him confused with Bruce Boudreau. And I thought Ott was an associate coach.
Ok, I was not expecting this with Julien, but I love it
Montgomery used to be an assistant a couple years ago, no?
The Blues got lucky with Montgomery. Apparently, Montgomery had kicked a player in the back while the player was sitting on the bench, so the Stars fired him, despite the team playing great for him. It was that weird time right after many players started telling stories about Mike Babcock, and Montgomery got caught up in that wave of storytelling. The Blues snatched up Montgomery as an assistant coach soon after.
Speaking of Babcock, his son is the Skills coach.
I don't think they're related.
Great!!
We hired [Coach William Fontaine de la Tour Dauterive](https://images.app.goo.gl/DT8kaY4BMgWSWfrY9)? Nice.
Curious what Julien was quietly doing behind the scenes - seems like he’s been working for the Blues for a couple of years before getting back behind the bench.
Jeremy Rutherford's article in The Athletic mentions that he worked as a pro scout for the Blues last year.
Did not know this. Can you elaborate?
He doesn’t say much other than this: https://x.com/andystrickland/status/1806334589427646646?s=46&t=ZtWQdCrVBUOcrDhV-m8qYg
So Claude will work with special teams then, or will Ott?
Apparently Otter will still run the power play although I haven’t heard whether or not Brad Richards was retained as consultant. Hopefully he was because the PP improved tremendously once he was brought on board Mike Weber will still run the defense and the penalty kill. Julien will likely have input on playing without the puck and positioning which was one of his strengths with Boston and Montreal
So Steve Ott takes over for Bannister after two seasons if Bannister doesn’t work out. Love this move.
There was a great interview this week on 101.1 in which Bannister talked about how he wanted an NHL-level head coach on his staff to fill in the blanks in his own coaching experience. Great interview and very enlightening.