ST. LOUIS - Claude Julien said he never had any prior conversations with St. Louis Blues coach Drew Bannister.
That is, until Julien received a phone call from Bannister inquiring about his interest in joining the Blues as an assistant coach. The more Julien, who coached 18 seasons in the NHL and won the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011, thought about it, the better he felt about the idea.
"Drew reached out to me and asked if he could talk to me and see if I would be a good fit for their crew," Julien said by phone Friday after being hired June 27. "So having known a lot of people there and feeling comfortable in that surrounding, there was something Drew and I discussed for quite a while and wanted to make sure it was a good fit. At the end of it all, I think it turned out to be a good fit."
The 64-year-old last coached in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens in 2021 and is 667-445-152 with 10 ties in 1,274 games with the Canadiens, New Jersey Devils and Bruins. He won the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year with Boston in 2008-09. He led the Bruins to 53 wins that season, which had been the most since they won 54 games in 1971-72. He's also 68-56 in 125 playoff games, including Boston's championship in 2011.
Julien said he relishes the role of mentor; with a younger coaching staff that includes associate coach Steve Ott, 41, and assistants Mike Weber, 36, Dave Alexander, 42, and Michael Babcock, 29, Julien adds a resume with a plethora of experience and wisdom.
"For me, I guess it's an opportunity to stay in the game as a coach, which I enjoy, but also having the opportunity to help a good, young (50) and upcoming coach in Drew Bannister," Julien said. "What he did last year taking over that team, I've walked into those situations a couple of times. It's not easy to get a team back on track and I thought he did a pretty good job of that.
"As I said to him, I said, 'I've been fortunate enough as a head coach to be surrounded by good assistant coaches.' This is a good opportunity for me right now at this stage of my career to do that for someone else. I'm looking forward to really honestly helping Drew and the coaching staff, which is a good, young and exciting coaching staff to be around and help them a little bit with my experience."
Bannister, who went 30-19-5 after replacing Craig Berube on Dec. 12, 2023, and was given a two-year contract as the 27th coach in Blues history May 7, said the hiring was a no-brainer; Julien kept checking all the boxes.
"Going through the process and what I was looking for in a coach and the vision that I had, not only for our staff but for our players and our team, it just kept coming back to Claude," Bannister said during development camp earlier this month. "Obviously his experience as a head coach, his path to development, being a major junior head coach and American Hockey League and then the NHL. What I was looking for was experience in the NHL and experience as a head coach in the NHL.
"I talked to a lot of people, I had a lot of good interviews, but I kept coming back to Claude and what he would bring to our staff and to our players. I said this before, he makes us instantly better coming through the door."
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong went through a similar experience when he brought in Hall of Famer Larry Robinson as part of Berube's staff in 2018-19 when the Blues won their first and only Stanley Cup, and hopes this hiring has similar benefits.
"I think it's really exciting," Armstrong said. "When Drew and I talked, he talked about his staff and I shared my experiences of working with staffs and how they were put together. The experience Larry Robinson showed a young staff, it was really impressive. I think Claude's at a portion of his life now where I think accepting this is easier and seeing the joy of working with young coaches and making them better, sharing his experiences, sharing his experiences with players.
"This guy's got a pretty stacked trophy case. You just can't hide that fact, and I think the players understand that. They're going to Google his name if they don't know him and they're going to say, 'Wow, Presidents' (Trophy), Stanley Cup, international events. This guy's a winner.'
"I think Mike Babcock, one of his terms, and I heard Barry Trotz use it, 'There's nothing wrong with having serial winners in your group.'"
