The team did improve under Bannister, especially the power play. Let’s hope that trend continues and that he can connect with some of the young prospects we have coming through the system over the next two years.
imakeitmoist
Bannister seems fine. Just not sure there’s enough talent on the roster to improve drastically until the new kids get up here. 2 years seems like a really short timeline to show what you can do. Seems like a defining point under Armstrong’s leadership. We’ll see how it all transpires
investmentman19
No issue with this if the big names and/or Denver HC passed. We’re at least 1-2 more years as a ‘retool’ anyway. Best case, he proves himself and you have your guy. Worst case, he’s bad and you move on right as Snuggy, DD, et al are coming into their own and you go find the guy to lead the youth movement.
hakagan
I am whelmed.
Birdsofwar314
This reminds me a bit of Davis Payne. He was retained after the Blues finished strong after firing Andy Murray. It didn’t turn out well. But it did bridge the gap to having a good young team and landing a guy like Hitchcock. So we will see.
DaddyRichStL
Sure glad we didn’t wait to see if Rod the Bod was going to be available ***FART***
codsoil
I think Army knows we’re gonna be bad for another 2+ years and would rather hit his home run hire then
MidnightMateor
I’m going to choose to believe that this is a long term play to let Bannister languish through the retool and have his contract expire right as Laviolette and Tortorella become available.
FDTerritory
A GM that is allowed to make bad decision after bad decision and an owner who either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care.
the_dayman623
Doesn’t matter who the head coach is frankly with all the dead weight we have on defense anyway
Spcone23
I don’t know a ton of how Bannister did in the AHL, but I’m guessing he’s good with developing younger talent. Seems like a hire to develop our upcoming guys and then find an HC with some good playoff experience and start pushing hard at that 2 year mark.
I always feel like Army is playing 3-D chess.
SkyrimIsTrash
Bannister kept the team respectable, for the most part. I’d expect the next 2 years to look a lot like this year; if we can field some decent depth guys and avoid shitting the bed against the league’s worst teams, we’ll likely be competing for the last handful of playoff spots.
We’re definitely not going to tank, by any means, but we’ve got too much money tied up in anchor contracts to reasonably contend outside of an incredible hit rate on our recent draftees. There’s no point in bringing in an expensive glamour hire when they’d inevitably be hamstrung by a poorly constructed roster. Gotta have a coach, so might as well give Bannister a shot and if he knocks it out of the park, we can extend him. If not, we can look for a replacement in 2 years when we’ll have a better idea of what to expect from the young guys.
NotTheRocketman
So, what this tells me, is that he will be the bridge coach. He’ll be in charge of getting these guys ready to contend as our prospects continue to graduate. When the team is ready to turn the corner, I would imagine that Army will re-assess and see if he wants to stick with him, or look elsewhere.
This also tells me that the players probably had some very positive things to say about him in their exit interviews this year. The players seem to like him quite a bit, and that’s always important.
nuaajinc
Now we want to see some big trades
CrimsonTyphoon0613
He’ll probably just be the guy throughout the rest of the retool.
BogOBones
Yeah, this isn’t exciting. Even without the interim tag, it still feels like he is a placeholder. I don’t think he doesn’t deserve this, though. The Blues showed a lot of improvement, and most of the young guys in particular shined. I hope for his and the Blues sake, he makes the most he can out of this.
Soundwave_13
I am ok….i guess I hope Drew proves me wrong
bleedblue89
bleck… this is probably just a gap coach. He wasn’t terrible won’t be great but the roster needs time to get the young kids up and you can get a new head coach then.
Basically a punt.
themooseiscool
It’s not Q upvote party!
nifty_fifty_two
There’s almost always an immediate performance bump that comes with firing a coach, regardless of the new guy. The key to measuring the new coach’s ability with the roster is what happens a few months later.
Based on that, I’m not particularly convinced Bannister is the best option that will become available before October. But he’s also a very safe pick.
I expect the Blues will stay where they’re stationed in the standings right now under Bannister.
21 Comments
The team did improve under Bannister, especially the power play. Let’s hope that trend continues and that he can connect with some of the young prospects we have coming through the system over the next two years.
Bannister seems fine. Just not sure there’s enough talent on the roster to improve drastically until the new kids get up here. 2 years seems like a really short timeline to show what you can do. Seems like a defining point under Armstrong’s leadership. We’ll see how it all transpires
No issue with this if the big names and/or Denver HC passed. We’re at least 1-2 more years as a ‘retool’ anyway. Best case, he proves himself and you have your guy. Worst case, he’s bad and you move on right as Snuggy, DD, et al are coming into their own and you go find the guy to lead the youth movement.
I am whelmed.
This reminds me a bit of Davis Payne. He was retained after the Blues finished strong after firing Andy Murray. It didn’t turn out well. But it did bridge the gap to having a good young team and landing a guy like Hitchcock. So we will see.
Sure glad we didn’t wait to see if Rod the Bod was going to be available ***FART***
I think Army knows we’re gonna be bad for another 2+ years and would rather hit his home run hire then
I’m going to choose to believe that this is a long term play to let Bannister languish through the retool and have his contract expire right as Laviolette and Tortorella become available.
A GM that is allowed to make bad decision after bad decision and an owner who either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care.
Doesn’t matter who the head coach is frankly with all the dead weight we have on defense anyway
I don’t know a ton of how Bannister did in the AHL, but I’m guessing he’s good with developing younger talent. Seems like a hire to develop our upcoming guys and then find an HC with some good playoff experience and start pushing hard at that 2 year mark.
I always feel like Army is playing 3-D chess.
Bannister kept the team respectable, for the most part. I’d expect the next 2 years to look a lot like this year; if we can field some decent depth guys and avoid shitting the bed against the league’s worst teams, we’ll likely be competing for the last handful of playoff spots.
We’re definitely not going to tank, by any means, but we’ve got too much money tied up in anchor contracts to reasonably contend outside of an incredible hit rate on our recent draftees. There’s no point in bringing in an expensive glamour hire when they’d inevitably be hamstrung by a poorly constructed roster. Gotta have a coach, so might as well give Bannister a shot and if he knocks it out of the park, we can extend him. If not, we can look for a replacement in 2 years when we’ll have a better idea of what to expect from the young guys.
So, what this tells me, is that he will be the bridge coach. He’ll be in charge of getting these guys ready to contend as our prospects continue to graduate. When the team is ready to turn the corner, I would imagine that Army will re-assess and see if he wants to stick with him, or look elsewhere.
This also tells me that the players probably had some very positive things to say about him in their exit interviews this year. The players seem to like him quite a bit, and that’s always important.
Now we want to see some big trades
He’ll probably just be the guy throughout the rest of the retool.
Yeah, this isn’t exciting. Even without the interim tag, it still feels like he is a placeholder. I don’t think he doesn’t deserve this, though. The Blues showed a lot of improvement, and most of the young guys in particular shined. I hope for his and the Blues sake, he makes the most he can out of this.
I am ok….i guess I hope Drew proves me wrong
bleck… this is probably just a gap coach. He wasn’t terrible won’t be great but the roster needs time to get the young kids up and you can get a new head coach then.
Basically a punt.
It’s not Q upvote party!
There’s almost always an immediate performance bump that comes with firing a coach, regardless of the new guy. The key to measuring the new coach’s ability with the roster is what happens a few months later.
Based on that, I’m not particularly convinced Bannister is the best option that will become available before October. But he’s also a very safe pick.
I expect the Blues will stay where they’re stationed in the standings right now under Bannister.
Disappointing but expected