The St. Louis Blues announced on Monday that associate coach
Mike Yeo will succeed head coach Ken Hitchcock following the 2016-2017 National
Hockey League Season.
Hitchcock announced that the upcoming season will indeed be
his final one behind the bench in the NHL. The Blues signed Yeo as an associate
coach, along with Rick Wilson as an assistant coach to work behind the bench in
with Hitchcock at the beginning of June.
Yeo’s four-year deal, which includes the final three seasons
serving as the head coach, runs through the 2019-2020 NHL season. When the
Blues brought Yeo into town, he was met at the airport by Hitchcock, where the
two of them spent about two hours conversing with each other.
The pair then went on to meet with Blues general manager
Doug Armstrong, assistant general manager Martin Brodeur and senior advisor to
Armstrong, Al MacInnis. Prior to meeting with the Blues, Yeo was linked to the
coaching positions within the Ottawa Senators, Anaheim Ducks and Calgary
Flames, but Armstong followed up with about three or four calls after an
initial meeting with him.
Armstrong said, “There
is a comfort level with him working with Ken for the year. I am excited about his
age as far as the growth pattern with our team. We are transferring into an
area where younger players are going to take a bigger role and I think he fits
with his experience and his young age. I think he is a good fit for us moving
forward.”
Armstrong first reached out to Yeo, back in 2010, when the
Blues were looking for a coach for their American Hockey League affiliate in
Peoria, Illinois, but he turned it down for the position in Houston with the
Minnesota Wild’s AHL affiliate.
The 42-year-old Yeo, spent the past five seasons behind the
Wild’s bench, before being replaced by John Torchetti on February 14. During
his time with the Wild he led Minnesota to a 173-132-44 record and three
Stanley Cup playoffs appearances. In 2015, Yeo’s Wild eliminated the Blues in
the opening round of the playoffs.
Yeo said, “I thought
all of the situations that were available were great, but when Doug and I
started talking, this quickly jumped to the top of my list and my family’s list
as far as places to live, the markets to be in. But I want to win, and I feel
this is a place with the ownership, the management, with the coaches, with the
players, I really believe it is a place I can come and be successful."
He added, “On top of
that, I am 42 years old, I have got a good amount of experience behind me. I
have had a decent run in Minnesota. But I am not looking to be a decent coach.
I am looking to be a great coach and I think the opportunity to work with a guy
like Hitchcock, to have that opportunity to learn in the group before you jump
into that coaching position, I just felt like this was a perfect fit and that
is why I was so excited about it.”
Before he became the bench boss for the Wild, he led the
Houston Aeros to the 2011 Calder Cup Final. He also spent 10 seasons with the
Pittsburgh Penguins organization, six of them in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Penguins in the AHL and another four on Dan Bylsma’s staff in the NHL.
Including serving as Bylma’s assistant coach on the 2009 Stanley Cup
Championship team.
Yeo who was 11-17 in 28 postseason games, will now get to
work with the young players like Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Robby
Fabbri and Colton Parayko. Yeo said “I
take great into putting in the work and doing what we can to develop the young
players. I just think when you look at where the game is at, you look at a team
like St. Louis, and obviously, it is a team that is ready to win right now, but
the window is not closing. This team is built for success for a number of
years. A lot of these young players, they will get better and the team will get
better.”
He added, “I am incredibly
excited to get the chance to work with such great people, to get the chance to
work with a team as strong as this one and to do it in a market with fans as
passionate and supportive as I have witnessed from the St. Louis market. My
family and I are incredibly excited and I am looking forward to joining the
community and being a part of this great organization.”
Hitchcock, Yeo and Wilson will be joined on the staff by
returning coaches, Ray Bennett, goalie coach, Jim Corsi and video coordinator,
Sean Ferrell.
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