By Andrew Allsman| Posted: June 13, 2016| Contact |
After a few weeks of inquiries and interviews, the Blues have finalized their 2016-17 coaching staff. The club announced Monday that it had agreed to terms with Mike Yeo and Rick Wilson to fill the two remaining openings.
Yeo, 42, will be an associate coach under Ken Hitchcock as well as the head coach in waiting. He will be replacing the retiring Hitchcock for the 2017-18 campaign with three years remaining on his four-year contract.
It is an unconventional and fairly uncommon situation for a team to name a coach-to-be a year before the position opens, but Yeo believes it will be a "big advantage" not only for him, but also for the organization.
"I know exactly what my role is," said Yeo. "I'm very comfortable in my role and that is to help (Hitchcock). I feel pretty humbled and honored to be part of his final season. He's had such a great career that I really want to make it a special one for him and I really want the Blues to have a great season."
Yeo understands how the process will work, too.
"He may have ideas, I may have some different ideas. For me, my role as an assistant coach this year will be simple. I will tell him what I believe every time. He might not like it, he might disagree. If he disagrees and he wants to do something else, I'll go out there and do exactly what he wants to do. I believe that's the role of the assistant coach and I believe that's how I'll learn the most and get the most out of this season."
Before joining the Blues, Yeo spent five seasons with Minnesota in what was his first head-coaching gig. At the time, he was the youngest of all NHL coaches and led the Wild to three playoff appearances, which included a 2015 round one victory over the Blues. He has a 173-132-44 record as a head coach.
"I'm 42 years old," Yeo said. "I've got a good amount of experience behind me, I had decent run in Minnesota. But I'm not looking to be a decent coach. I'm looking to be a great coach and I think the opportunity to work for a guy like 'Hitch', to have that opportunity to learn the group before you jump into that coaching position, I felt like this is the perfect fit and that's why we're so excited about it."
After a rocky 23-22-10 start to the 2015-16 campaign with the Wild, Yeo was replaced and has been without a job since. The Blues expect to see the young coach draw from his experiences in Minnesota and be even better when he takes over in a year.
"I think like all of us in hockey, you're better prepared the second time than the first," said general manager Doug Armstrong. "I know managers feel that way, coaches feel that way. He has a lot of experience and after talking to Ken, the technical part of it is very good. His power play with Team Canada was over 27 percent and he has an understanding of today's players. In the areas we need to improve on, we shared a similar vision on where we're going and how he wants it to be played."
Yeo was asked about that assessment and was in agreement.
"You learn a great deal from your successes, but I think oftentimes you learn even more from your failures," he said. "I had almost a different feel about myself two weeks after I had lost my job and had a chance to look back and reflect on things I might do differently. I think part of it is you go into a new situation just much better equipped than you are the first time around. I think I evolved and grew while I was in Minnesota but I also think when you go somewhere, it's almost a little bit of what you are. You can grow a little bit. I feel going into this situation I'm in a much different place and have much more in the bank as far as knowledge about how to deal with certain situations and where that can take you."
The Blues have had their eye on Yeo for a while. Armstrong admitted to offering him a job as the team's American Hockey League coach back when Peoria was the Blues' affiliate. Luckily for the Blues there was a shared interest because Yeo has been a popular commodity since being fired by Minnesota, interviewing for several other jobs, including Anaheim's coaching vacancy.
"You look at the teams since he was let go with coaching options open and all three have interviewed him," said Armstrong. "We tried to strike before Anaheim, Calgary, made their final decisions. We talked last week and he said if we were first in line, we were the team he'd like to go to. So we got ahead of the curve a little bit."
Prior to his Minnesota days, Yeo was an assistant coach for four years in Pittsburgh. He was a part of the 2009 Stanley Cup-winning Penguins coaching staff. In all, the coach has nine years of experience behind NHL benches, which is impressive for his age.
“For being 42 years old, he’s got a lot of experience," said Armstrong. "He’s won a Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh, he’s taken an American League team to the finals and you saw the good job he did in Minnesota in taking that team to the second round. What excites me is his experience, but with his age, he can really relate to today’s players and it’s an exciting day for our team.”
Prior to his Minnesota days, Yeo was an assistant coach for four years in Pittsburgh. He was a part of the 2009 Stanley Cup-winning Penguins coaching staff. In all, the coach has nine years of experience behind NHL benches, which is impressive for his age.
“For being 42 years old, he’s got a lot of experience," said Armstrong. "He’s won a Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh, he’s taken an American League team to the finals and you saw the good job he did in Minnesota in taking that team to the second round. What excites me is his experience, but with his age, he can really relate to today’s players and it’s an exciting day for our team.”
Yeo and Wilson will join the returning Ray Bennett (assistant coach), Jim Corsi (goaltending coach) and Sean Ferrell (video coach) on the team’s coaching staff.
Wilson, 65, is a former Blues defenseman and was an assistant under Yeo in Minnesota. The veteran has a plethora of coaching experience at the NHL level, albeit almost all of it as an assistant, including 27 seasons and five different teams. Wilson was a part of Hitchcock’s staff in Dallas in 1999 when the Stars hoisted the Stanley Cup.
"When you have success with someone, there’s a lot of confidence,” Hitchcock said on the Blues website. “I just feel like Rick has this aura about him that he can really get the defense to play with passion and an edge. I think that’s the next growth pattern for the group back there.”
Armstrong confirmed to the media on Monday that Wilson will work with the defensive group, replacing the void left by former assistant Brad Shaw.
Shaw departed from the club after the season to pursue other options. Kirk Muller did the same and recently accepted a role on Montreal’s coaching staff.
Bennett will be returning for his 10th season with the Blues, while Corsi and Ferrell have signed on for their third stints. All three accepted one-year deals.