Wild fire coach Mike Yeo following 8th straight loss

Yeo confirmed to Mike Russo, Wild beat writer for Star-Tribune, that he was in fact fired.

Mike Yeo’s record in 4+ seasons as the head coach of the Minnesota Wild was 173-132-44.

The Wild had dramatic midseason slumps in each of the previous two seasons and recovered to make the playoffs. Minnesota has not won a home game since Dec. 28 and tied the franchise record for consecutive home games without a win at eight, having gone 0-5-3 since the late December win.

To refresh your memory, Fletcher, Minnesota’s general manager since 2009, made Todd Richards his first hire.

“I think he needs to be more involved”, Julien told reporters before the game, via the Boston Herald. “I’m operating under the assumption that I’ll be the coach tomorrow”. “But I thought we played a pretty sound game tonight and we got the two points, which is huge, and now we can move on”. “We need to start being a much better hockey team”.

Yeo’s dismissal naturally leaves Fletcher even more exposed to criticism. He has nine seasons of National Hockey League coaching experience, including stints as interim coach with the Florida Panthers in 2004 and the Los Angeles Kings in 2006.

Most telling of an inability to craft a successful power play perhaps, was that Dumba, who is easily the most dynamic offensive player on the team did not see significant power play time up until a couple of weeks ago.

As the buzzer sounded indicating the Wild’s 4-2 loss was complete, Yeo turned to his left, walked down the tunnel and out of sight from the Xcel Energy Center crowd for the final time.

“I knew what he said the other day, and I’m a realist”, Yeo said. We had three games where I think the outcome could’ve been different, three games where it looked like it were coming.

Vanek, asked if he talked to Yeo after the announcement: “I haven’t talked to Mike since he scratched me in St. Louis”.

“The bottom line is we’ve got to get playing with confidence”, Torchetti said. The following year, he was hired as the new head coach of the Houston Aeros, then the Wild’s AHL affiliate, replacing Yeo – who was promoted to manage the Wild.

Horvat and defenceman Dan Hamhuis will play for the Canucks after missing Sunday’s practice.

The Bruins were without their best player, Patrice Bergeron, and Jonas Gustavsson made his first start in goal since leaving a January 26 game with a heart ailment. “They’re your leaders and that’s why on your team moving forward, to get better, you have to have your leaders echo your words in the room when you leave the locker-room”.