The St. Louis Blues announced Tuesday that they have removed the interim tag from Drew Bannister’s title and named him the team’s full-time head coach.
Bannister, 50, signed a two-year contract extension with the club.
After replacing Craig Berube in mid-December, Bannister led the Blues to a record of 30-19-5 through the end of the regular season.
Also under Bannister, the team jumped to No. 13 from No. 31 in the NHL on the power play, from No. 20 to No. 13 on the penalty kill and from No. 23 to No. 12 in goals-against per game.
Despite the team missing the playoffs for the second straight season, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said on April 19, one day after the end of the regular season, that Bannister was on a short list of candidates for the job.
Less than a month later, the search has been completed with Bannister being named the 27th head coach in franchise history.
(Photo: Jeff Curry / USA Today)
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