Jim Montgomery immediately hired by rival NHL team.

The coaching carousel in the National Hockey League continues to spin.

The Boston Bruins shocked many last week when they announced the sudden and unexpected firing of head coach Jim Montgomery but it would now appear that one team's trash is another team's treasure.

The St. Louis Blues and always aggressive general manager Doug Armstrong have pounced on the opportunity provided to them by the Bruins decision last week and have made a coaching change. According to a report from NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, the Blues have fired current head coach Drew Bannister and have snatched Montgomery off the market just days after he was fired by the Bruins.

Montgomery already has an existing relationship with the Blues organization and by extension general manager Doug Armstrong after spending a pair of seasons behind the bench there. Montgomery spent both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons behind the bench of the St. Louis Blues working as an assistant coach.

There was a widespread belief around the league that Montgomery would not remain unemployed for very long but I don't know that anyone could have predicted a turn around that came this quickly. Montgomery was fired by the Bruins last Tuesday which means that there were only 4 full days in which Montgomery was without a job as an NHL head coach before being hired today by the Blues.

It sounds like the Blues have made a huge commitment to Montgomery as well with the insider reporting that the former head coach of the Bruins has signed a lengthy 5 year contract with the Blues.

Stay tuned for more details.