Hochman: STL native Ben Bishop dishes on Blues' Jim Montgomery, his 'high IQ' coach in Dallas (2024)

Jim Montgomery first skated into the lives of St. Louis puckheads in 1993 as a rookie centerman. He logged 67 games that season with a Blue Note on his chest (and then, the Canadian became a Canadien, Flyer, Shark and Star, though never a star).

But in the postseason of 2019, Montgomery returned to the St. Louis hockey orbit, this time as the Dallas coach. For many here, this was their first introduction to Monty. And in that famous second-round series, he coached a disciplined and detail-oriented Dallas team that pushed St. Louis to the brink (the brink being, of course, double-overtime in Game 7, until Patrick Maroon scored and became Patrick Maroon).

Montgomery’s goalie was Ben Bishop, a St. Louis native who, now retired after a brilliant career, lives in St. Louis. So, to learn even more about Montgomery, I enlisted Bishop for some analysis.

“Monty has a very, very smart hockey mind — the way he thinks the game, the way that he can make changes during the game,” Bishop said Monday, the day Montgomery made his debut as the 28th head coach in St. Louis Blues history. “Very high hockey IQ. ... We had a terrific year together (in 2018-19). And you know, he’s a guy’s guy, as well. He’s obviously a smart hockey coach, but he’s also a personable guy, as far as in the locker room and around the rink.

“He’s not somebody that you’re necessarily intimidated by — he’s someone you can go up to and talk to not just about hockey but about anything. So it’s kind of a friendly coach, but also he demands a lot. And that’s why he’s had so much success wherever he’s been.”

The bold hiring of Montgomery is an energizing moment in this lull in Blues history. Now, as general manager Doug Armstrong aptly stated, Montgomery isn’t going to accelerate the development of the first-round picks in the Blues’ minor league system. But Montgomery should accelerate the current Blues to becoming better sooner — and thus, when the kids are ready to contribute, they’ll do so to a winning hockey club and culture.

On the St. Louis hire, Bishop said: “I think it’s great — he’s a tremendous coach, and you just look at his record as an NHL coach all together, it’s pretty impressive. And his wife’s from St. Louis, and he was living here (as a Blues assistant from 2020-2022), so to bring his family back to St Louis, a familiar place for his kids and family, I think it’s tremendous.”

Indeed, Montgomery is married to the former Emily Pixley, a native of south city. When I met Montgomery during the 2019 playoff series, he shared the story about how he met his wife. In March of 2009, he was an assistant coach for RPI — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a strong hockey college school in Troy, New York.

He traveled to his first NHL city to recruit a player named Jerry D’Amigo. The night before the game, Montgomery met up with a longtime friend at an office happy hour. That’s where Monty met Emily.

Oh, and sure enough, he got the girl and the recruit. D’Amigo signed with RPI and averaged nearly a point per game.

Bishop’s connection to Montgomery occurred even before they arrived in Dallas.

They were both Maine Black Bears.

“Oh, he’s a legend, yes!” Bishop said.

Bishop first learned the lore of Monty while on campus in the aughts. Bishop was the netminder for two Maine teams that advanced to the Frozen Four — the second year, in 2007, the Frozen Four was in St. Louis (and incidentally, it returns to St. Louis this season in April of 2025 — and the Frozen Four could feature Blues heralded prospect Jimmy Snuggerud of Minnesota).

“(Montgomery) was on one of the greatest, or probably the greatest college team of all time, that 1992-93 team when they won the national championship,” Bishop said. “They were 42-1-2. In the season, they almost went undefeated with (future NHL superstar) Paul Kariya.”

And check this out. I couldn’t believe it at first. In the national title game, Maine was down 4-2 at the end of the second period. In the third period, Montgomery scored three goals, all assisted by Kariya, and Maine won, 5-4.

A one-period hat trick to take the lead and win the national title? Unbelievable.

And it was Maine’s first-ever championship.

Montgomery won another college championship as the coach of University of Denver in 2017. He’s yet, of course, to win a Stanley Cup. He coached quite a crew in 2019, but St. Louis destiny intervened. And in 2022-23, he coached the Boston Bruins to the best regular-season record in history.

Not Boston history — NHL history.

The Bruins went 65-12-5. Alas, just like the 2000 St. Louis Blues, the Bruins won the President’s Trophy ... and lost in the first round.

Well, now he’s the Blues coach. The Blues, as is, are a work-in-progress. But it sure seemed like progress had stalled this season (whether star Robert Thomas was injured or in the lineup). Returning to the city that means so much to him, Montgomery, I believe, will put the Blues in a position to become Cup contenders in the future — and possibly make the playoffs in the present.

“He’s a heck of a coach,” Bishop said.