Mike Yeo

At 50 years old, Mike Yeo has this physical status:

Michael Yeo (born July 31, 1973) is a Canadian professional ice hockey assistant coach for the Philadelphia Flyers and former player.

He is the former head coach of the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Yeo grew up in North Bay, Ontario.

He had been an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins and head coach of the American Hockey League's Houston Aeros.

Personal life

Yeo and his wife Tanya have a daughter, Braeden and a son, Kyler. He attended Widdifield Secondary School.

Despite having a surname that is commonly associated with Asian culture, Yeo is not of Asian descent. He has stated that his surname was shortened from Yeomen by an early ancestor.

Source

Career

Yeo spent five seasons with the Houston Aeros while playing in the International Hockey League (IHL). He captained the team to the Turner Cup Championship in 1998-99.

Yeo was signed by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Pittsburgh's top affiliate, at the start of their inaugural season in 1999, in what would be his first of eleven years with the Pittsburgh Penguins team. Yeo accepted an invitation to remain with the team by serving as an assistant to head coach Glenn Patrick, a position he continued to hold until Michel Therrien replaced Patrick in 2003. He suffered with a serious knee injury during his playing career after just 19 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. After Eddie Olczyk's dismissal of him and his coaching staff in 2005, Yeo was promoted alongside Therrien in 2005 as the Pittsburgh Penguins' assistant. Yeo aided Therrien in laying the groundwork for the Penguins' revival into resurgent glory in the 2006–08 season by focusing on special teams, ending the franchise's six-year absence in the 2006–07 season and leading the Penguins to their second-highest points in franchise history in 2007–08. Yeo, who was working as an assistant under Therrien's replacement Dan Bylsma, began to have health problems with his blood pressure, and "felt lightheaded and dizzy, and had chest pains in one game," although he fought and helped the team win in the Stanley Cup in 2009.

Yeo left the Penguins to take up the unfilled head coach job at the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League (AHL), at the time, the top AHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild was promoted to Kevin Constantine. The Aeros finished in last place in the West Division with low hopes going into Yeo's hire. Despite this, the Aeros brought on several offensive players, including Robbie Earl, Patrick O'Sullivan, and Jed Ortmeyer. The revitalized roster under Yeo's leadership, winning the AHL Calder Cup Finals in Yeo's first year behind the bench.

On June 17, 2011, Yeo was announced as the Minnesota Wild's head coach. The Wildcats won their first game 4–2 at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Yeo's first game 4–2. The Wild began the season 15-7–3, but they were unable to win in any of the final five months of the season. Yeo's team had a down-year in 2011-2012 as their team came last in terms of goals scored in the NHL with a meagre 177, relative to the NHL average of 240. The team did not make it to the playoffs, came third last in power play percentage, and was known for streaky play. In teams of two or more games, the Wild tended to lose games in streaks, losing 32 out of 36 games. In December and seven straight in February, effectively removing the Wild from playoff contention.

Yeo accused the San Jose Sharks players of embellishing penalties during the 2012-2013 season, and had to remind Todd McLellan to apologize.

Yeo's name was among the rumors that he'd lost his career early in the 2013-14 season. Nonetheless, the Wild were able to make the playoffs for the second straight year in the second half of the season. In the second round, the Wild defeated the Colorado Avalanche in seven games before losing to the Chicago Blackhawks. Yeo was granted a three-year contract extension with the Minnesota Wild on May 31, 2014.

Yeo's name has surfaced again during the 2014–15 season. However, goalie Devan Dubnyk's mid-season move saved him not only his career but also the team's season. The team had an 18–19–5 record before the trade and had a record of 46–28–8. With a victory over Chicago on April 7, 2015, the Wilds qualified for the playoffs. For the third straight season, the Chicago fell in four games and scored only 7 goals in the entire series.

Yeo was no longer the youngest head coach in the NHL during his first four seasons with the additions of Jeff Blashill by Detroit and John Hynes by New Jersey in the summer of 2015.

Yeo was fired as the Minnesota Wild head coach on February 13, 2016 after losing 13 of his last 14 games as head coach.

He was appointed as the eventual successor to Ken Hitchcock as the St. Louis Blues' coach on June 13, 2016. During the 2016-2017 season, he served as an assistant coach and was expected to take over as the head coach from the 2017-18 season.

After Ken Hitchcock was fired, Yeo was named as the head coach of the Blues on February 1, 2017. Yeo made a dramatic turn-around for the Blues in the second half of the season, going 22-8-2 and making the playoffs, where he defeated his former club Minnesota in the 1st round before falling out to eventual Stanley Cup champions Nashville Predators.

Yeo was fired by the Blues on November 19, 2018, and Craig Berube was brought on to assist the Blues as they began with Craig Berube, who then coached the Blues to their first Stanley Cup Championship.

Yeo will take over as an assistant coaching position under Alain Vigneault on May 6, 2019. Following Vigneault's dismissal, Yeo was named interim head coach of the Flyers on December 6, 2021. After the 2021–22 season ended, Yeo was fired by Philadelphia on May 3, 2022.

Yeo was hired as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks under Bruce Boudreau on July 1st, 2022.

Source