ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington was not ignoring coach Jim Montgomery’s decision to pull him late in the Blues’ 7-3 loss to the host Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday, Montgomery told The Athletic on Thursday morning.

Instead, backup goalie Joel Hofer was not ready to enter the game.

The Blackhawks took a 7-2 lead on a goal by Louis Crevier with 7 minutes, 4 seconds remaining in regulation. During the stoppage in play, the Blues decided to make a change in net.

“We had signaled back to make the goalie switch, and the lines of communication on the headset were not clear initially,” Montgomery said. “Joel Hofer wasn’t ready, and it kind of symbolizes last night’s play. Our special teams weren’t ready. Joel Hofer wasn’t ready.

“Binner had no issue. He knew what we were doing, so there was zero malcontent by Jordan Binnington. Ultimately, that all falls on me, that the goalie wasn’t ready to go in, because I’m the head coach and I’m the one in charge of this team. So, I’ve got to make sure the lines of communication are better.”

There was much speculation that Binnington was aware of the change but elected not to look at the bench and remain in the game. However, the TNT broadcast showed Binnington with his back to the crossbar, waiting for Hofer to step onto the ice.

The Blues couldn't find Hofer so they couldn't pull Binnington 😭 pic.twitter.com/Yp4MRjbS35

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 8, 2026

Approximately 1:20 after the goal was scored, Montgomery waved Binnington to the bench.

“I motioned to him, and he nodded to me, ‘Yes,’ ” Montgomery said.

However, Binnington still did not see Hofer, so he didn’t skate off.

“That’s common,” Montgomery said. “You don’t leave your crease until the other guy is skating toward you.”

About 12 seconds after Montgomery’s wave, the puck was dropped at center ice, and play resumed.

In many NHL rinks, the backup goalie sits on the bench with the team or in a tunnel that heads back to the locker room. But the setup is different in Chicago, where there’s no room for the backup to sit on the bench. Typically, the backup stays in the locker room during the game.

Hofer was in the locker room, and according to Montgomery, did not have the top half of his equipment or his jersey on.

“Someone had to go tell Hofer, and Hofer was half-dressed, so that was the delay,” Montgomery said. “It’s just not commonplace that guys are going to sit there in the dressing room (with all of their equipment on). Everybody, between periods, when they go back to the locker room, no one keeps their jersey on because you want to cool down.