Alexander Shun | @alexpshun
Digital Content Manager | KFAN.com
In a surprising move Wednesday morning, the St. Louis Blues and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced that they have fired Head Coach Ken Hitchcock and promoted Associate Head Coach (and former Minnesota Wild head coach) Mike Yeo to the role.
Yeo was originally hired to take over the head coaching role at the end of the season as Hitchcock made it clear that he intended to move on from St. Louis, however, a dismal January that saw the Blues go 5-8 sped up Hitchcock's departure.
The former Wild head coach now takes over a team that has lost five of their last six games and slipped to the eighth spot in the Western Conference.
As head coach in Minnesota, the Wild went 173-132-44 and the team made the playoffs three times. Though, like Hitchcock's tenure with St. Louis, Yeo was relieved of his coaching duties midseason due to under-performing and lackluster results.
Interesting to note: If the playoffs were to start today, the Wild and Blues would face-off against one another in the first round. Wouldn't that be exciting?