Blues name Bannister full-time head coach

The St. Louis Blues removed the interim tag from head coach Drew Bannister on Tuesday, signing him to a two-year contract to be the team's permanent bench boss.

Bannister guided the Blues to a 30-19-5 record after taking over on an interim basis after St. Louis fired Craig Berube in December.

The Blues missed the Western Conference playoffs by six points, though they boasted a better record than the Eastern Conference's second wild-card team, the Washington Capitals.

The biggest improvement for the Blues after the coaching change was with the man advantage. St. Louis' power play was operating at just 8.4% under Berube but converted at 22.8% after Bannister took over.

The Blues also made strides defensively, allowing 3.32 goals per game with Berube compared to 2.87 with Bannister.

Before the Blues promoted him, Bannister was the head coach of St. Louis' farm teams, the AHL's Springfield Thunderbirds (2021-23) and San Antonio Rampage (2018-20). He also served as the head coach of the OHL's Soo Greyhounds from 2015-18.

Bannister played in 164 NHL games between the Tampa Bay Lightning, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks, and New York Rangers from 1995-2001.

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