The St. Louis Blues announced today that they’ve hired Mike Yeo as an Assistant Coach and eventual replacement for Ken Hitchcock.
BREAKING: #stlblues announce Mike Yeo has been hired to Ken Hitchcock's staff as an assistant and will take over as head coach in 2017-18.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) June 13, 2016
The Blues recently signed Hitchcock to a one-year extension and the veteran head coach made it clear that 2016-17 would be his final season manning the bench in the NHL. Rumors that St. Louis was interested in Yeo have been swirling.
Yeo, a native of North Bay, Ontario has coached the Minnesota Wild for the last five seasons, leading Minnesota to a record of 173-132-44 and three playoff appearances before being fired in February of this year. Prior to his head coaching stint in Minnesota, he spent four seasons as an assistant coach with the Penguins and one year as a head coach with the AHL’s Houston Aeros.
The Blues were eliminated in the Western Conference Finals by the San Jose Sharks after finishing the regular season with a record of 49-24-9, good for second place in the Central Division.