That started on Sunday, when he held a team meeting. Montgomery said there were a lot of smiles in the room.

“When someone of that caliber is available and knows the team so well, knows the players, knows the staff, knows the entire organization and really believes in it, that’s the message that goes into the room,” Thomas said. “That’s a message that brings a lot of energy to this room.”

But the Blues are different now than they were a few seasons ago.

They made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of Montgomery’s seasons as an assistant; today, St. Louis is sixth in the Central Division with 19 points, one win in the past four games, two in nine (2-6-1) and four in 13 since October 26 (4-9-1).

The Blues rank 30th in the NHL in goals per game (2.36), 25th in goals against (3.36) and power play (16.7 percent), and 24th in penalty kill (75.9 percent).

Montgomery becoming available is the main reason why a coaching change was made, but those statistics and their record certainly played a role in that as well.

“We know we have to play better and we still hold ourselves accountable,” Schenn said. “I don’t think we’re going to sit here and say we’re going to let ourselves go just because they got their guy. …We’ve got to be a lot better, myself included.”

Montgomery was asked if he thinks the Blues can be a playoff team this season.

“I don’t know the ceiling yet, so I can’t give a definitive answer to that,” he said. “I believe in this group. It is not easy to make the play-offs in this competition, half of the teams miss it, but I think in the long term this will be a team of play-off caliber.”

That doesn’t apply this season, which is why the five-year contract means so much to Montgomery.

The team dedication in him gives Montgomery the confidence to know that he can both coach today to try to improve and become a play-off team, while also coaching for tomorrow so that the Blues develop appropriately and become a consistent contender again.

“Whether I’m at the end of a one-year contract or a five-year contract, it won’t change the way I do things with the process and the results; I expect this will drive success,” Montgomery said. “But when you have a five-year contract, you can afford to be a little more patient.”