Ex-Bruin Jim Montgomery Makes Admission About Blues’ Pursuit

Jim Montgomery thought he was receiving emotional support when Doug Armstrong contacted him last week.

As it turned out, there was a far more substantial motive behind the Blues general manager’s phone call.

“It was very exciting, but I was in the mindset, I thought this was a social call of like, ‘Hey, I’ve been there, keep your head up, take a breath, enjoy the family.’ Once it turned to business, the engine and my blood starting pumping,” Montgomery told reporters Monday, per The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford.

Armstrong couldn’t resist the opportunity to sign Montgomery after the 2022-23 Jack Adams Award winner was relieved of his duties by the Boston Bruins. St. Louis’ general manager since 2010, Armstrong viewed the former Blues assistant coach as the right person to try and lead a turnaround for the franchise.

“The best line that put his hooks into me was ‘When something delicious falls on my plate, I eat,'” Montgomery said of Armstrong, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Matthew DeFranks. “So, I don’t know, I guess I was a T-bone that day.”

Montgomery, who also played for the Blues in the early 1990s, signed a five-year deal with the franchise upon replacing Drew Bannister. Boston’s former bench boss will make his St. Louis head-coaching debut Monday night in New York against the Rangers.