He spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Blackhawks, though also briefly played for the Vancouver Canucks, who selected him in the 1977 NHL amateur draft.

Tony Esposito's backup for the early portion of his career, Bannerman finally got a chance to shine in the first round of the 1982 playoffs.

He won his first two games-on the road-and powered his Chicago team to a series victory over the Minnesota North Stars.

Bannerman is also fourth on the all-time Blackhawks' goaltender playoff statistics list with 20 wins and 40 games played.

As of 2019[update], Bannerman is the vice president of US sales for Traffic Tech, Inc. a Montreal-based transportation and logistics provider.