According to multiple media outlets (including KFAN and Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune), the Minnesota Wild are set to hire Houston Aeros coach Mike Yeo. Yeo allegedly impressed the Wild brass with his second interview and was chosen over former Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish to succeed Todd Richards as the third Head Coach in franchise history. A press conference is scheduled for tomorrow at 11 AM to introduce the new head coach.
Yeo has only one season as a professional head coach but made the most out of it as he led the Wild minor league club Aeros to the Calder Cup (AHL Championship) Finals. Before that Yeo spent five seasons as an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins and was a part of their 2009 Stanley Cup championship. He is the second head coach hired by General Manager Chuck Fletcher with ties to the Pittsburgh organization – Fletcher was an assistant general manager with the Penguins before taking the Wild GM job – and hopefully will have more success than Richards, whose tenure ended April 11 after two seasons behind the Wild bench.