Yeo that hurts!!

[yave1964]

Coach on the hotseat. Putting it mildly.

  The Wild lost to the Bruins at home today by a final of 4-2 with boos raining down from midway through the second on, the game wasnt even that close, youngster Mike Reilly scored a goal with about a minute to go, it had been decided much earlier and the two teams were playing out the string of the game most of the third period.

  the Wild were at home, they were swept at home in a three game home stand for the second time in a month. They have lost 8 straight home games and total, they have lost 16 of their past 19 games.

  too much talent for this. Spiraling uncontrollably downward in the Western Conference standings, the Wild has lost eight in a row overall (0-6-2), eight in a row at home (0-5-3), 13 times in the past 14 games overall (1-11-2) and 16 times in 19 games since the calendar flipped to 2016 (3-12-4).

  I watched a fair share of the game, the Wild had multiple power plays in which they passed the puck around, rather than shoot it. They were out of sync and after the crowd cheered early before Marchand scored quieting them before turning them against the home team the Wild were a mess.

  You cannot fire 20 players. Yeo got a vote of confidence recently, but I doubt he finished the season behind the bench. He may not survive the weekend.

 

[yave1964]

Well in the half an hour since I put this up, Yeo was fired. No surprise.

[J0e Th0rnton]

1 hour ago, yave1964 said:

Well in the half an hour since I put this up, Yeo was fired. No surprise.

jeeeesus. That is a fast firing after a bad game.

 

WHo will take the helm?

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

And at this point, I have no idea who the Wild will get to replace Mike Yeo.

 

Not sure how I feel about this.

Mike Yeo has been on the hot seat a couple times before, not just this season, but in season's past....but there was always a player or hot streak that seemed to rescue him and the team. No such thing this year.

 

On the one hand, I can see the need for change, and some of Yeo's decisions regarding who to play and what line combinations are out there were kinda puzzling.

On the other hand, the players he DID put out there simply weren't executing.

 

Guys like Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Mikael Granlund, Jason Zucker, and yes, even Zach Parise CERTAINLY can't blame the coach for their struggles.

I have seen that group of guys time and again get chance after chance, and they either mess up the execution or don't recognize the scoring opportunities they are presented.

 

Something else (besides the obvious losing) that likely led to Yeo's dismissal:

Over relying on guys like Niedderreiter, Fontaine, Stoll, and Carter to play big minutes when those minutes probably should have gone to REAL top six guys (even though those top six guys may have been struggling).

 

Game's one the line, Wild need a goal, there are about 2 minutes left so Coach sends out.............the 3rd line!!?? the fourth line???

No. That time HAS to go to Parise, Granlund, Zucker, Pominville, etc (YES, the very same guys who were not executing).

I don't care if the execution is not there, you win and lose with your best......not bottom six guys whom the coach hopes execute better.

 

One final interesting thing to me in all this:

GM Chuck Fletcher.

 

The Wild GM has now had to hire, then fire, TWO head coaches: Mike Yeo, and Todd Richards previously.

What does that say about the Minnesota GM's ability to hire the RIGHT GUY for the job? Hmmm....

 

Also, how has the GM done at the draft, how has he done stockpiling talent in the minors in case of injury or in case the current crop of young players don't work out? What about goaltending....what has the GM done to ensure Minnesota goaltending is sound for the next several years?

 

Answer to that is ........not a whole lot.

 

And of course, Mike Yeo, through injuries or under performance of players, was forced to play guys in roles they really had no business being in.

No recourse for Yeo to go, "Hey, let me dip into the minors and get a solid short term replacement for X player who isn't doing well right now".

 

Yep. Changes needed to take place..and I have a sneaking suspicion firing the head coach is just the beginning. Do NOT be surprised if the Wild GM gets replaced as well.

 

[hf101]

I got my vote up in time.  

 

This should have been done 2 weeks ago.  The team quit on the coach shortly after Parise returned from a knee injury.

Giving Todd Richards a go till the end of the season makes some sense.  I always kinda thought Don Lucia would get a chance, but he's been struggling also in Minny this year.  Many thought Lucia was more deserving of an NHL position over Hakstol..

 

The timing couldn't be worse with the outdoor game coming up next week.

 

 

[hf101]

@TSNBobMcKenzie  17m17 minutes ago

John Torchetti expected to named interim head coach in MIN, replacing Mike Yeo, fired earlier tonite. Torchetti coaching in AHL tonight.

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

16 minutes ago, hf101 said:

@TSNBobMcKenzie  17m17 minutes ago

John Torchetti expected to named interim head coach in MIN, replacing Mike Yeo, fired earlier tonite. Torchetti coaching in AHL tonight.

 

Torch has paid his dues.  He should be the next coach.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

15 minutes ago, hf101 said:

@TSNBobMcKenzie  17m17 minutes ago

John Torchetti expected to named interim head coach in MIN, replacing Mike Yeo, fired earlier tonite. Torchetti coaching in AHL tonight.

 

Oh yay.....hire the minor league coach, whose Iowa Wild aren't exactly lighting things up either.

 

Honestly, I think this season is lost anyways. And I really don't know who else they can get.

Maybe the players now will be embarrassed enough to turn things around for a bit, but dealing with the competitive division they are in, without a solid leadership group in place, I doubt Minnesota does very much the rest of the year.

 

Hope they can prove me wrong.

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

13 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Oh yay.....hire the minor league coach, whose Iowa Wild aren't exactly lighting things up either.

 

 

 

Isn't that how Yeo got the job?  He came from the farm.

[yave1964]

They played part of Yeo's post game presser (before he was fired) on NHL Network, his voice was shaking, I have never seen a more defeated man in my life. He looked like the call from Fletcher letting him go was a relief. I believe he ran out of things to try.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

29 minutes ago, AlaskaFlyerFan said:

 

Isn't that how Yeo got the job?  He came from the farm.

 

Sure.

That's exactly how Mike Yeo got the job.

 

I am not knocking trying to get a coach from the AHL...teams have done that in the past with success (TB Lightning anyone?), however, the difference here is, when Mike Yeo was brought up, there was a nice collection of talent ready at the NHL level with more on the way that he knew from coaching them in the minors.

 

Not saying Torchetti wouldn't do a good job, but his situation coming to the NHL compared to Mike Yeo's is WORSE.

The Iowa team is one of the lower scoring teams in the AHL, their defense, on a good day is average, and there are just no real standouts that Torchetti can tell the GM, "Hey, I wanna bring this guy up this year to see what he can do."

 

Like I said, the Wild just don't have many options, and I think the underlying stink here, ultimately, is their GM.

So, having said that, since there IS no one else, I suppose Minnesota can just give their AHL guy a shot, but he just can't expect much support, unless the veterans on the Wild pull their act together.

[WordsOfWisdom]

1 hour ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Oh yay.....hire the minor league coach, whose Iowa Wild aren't exactly lighting things up either.

 

Honestly, I think this season is lost anyways. And I really don't know who else they can get.

Maybe the players now will be embarrassed enough to turn things around for a bit, but dealing with the competitive division they are in, without a solid leadership group in place, I doubt Minnesota does very much the rest of the year.

 

Hope they can prove me wrong.

 

The Wild are proving that no matter how many games they lose (8 games in a row now?), they can't catch any of Canada's "FAB FOUR" in the west lol.  

[JagerMeister]

Mike Yeo should be partially held accountable for the Minnesota's losing streak, but the team simply isn't performing at a competent level. Their PK is 22nd in the league, their goals for and against is 23rd and 19th in the league. The powerplay percentage is 23rd, the PK is 22nd.

 

Now all of these things can be attributed to the incompetence of the coach, but then you look at the stats of some pivotal pieces. Devan Dubynk has a save percentage of 9.17, which is serviceable but an astronomical decrease from his save percentage from last year, which I'm certain almost everyone expected.

 

Then there is Zach Parise who endured an injury this year, so its justifiable for his production to be low. Then Mikael Granlund, who is dissatisfying to say the least. Mikael is already in his prime and has yet to even exceed his point total from 2 years prior, and with how he's producing right now its likely not happening this year. Rather disgruntling since Minnesota fans seemed to have expected better.

[hf101]

2 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Oh yay.....hire the minor league coach, whose Iowa Wild aren't exactly lighting things up either.

 

Yeah, nothing like a raise for the coach of the 2nd worst record in the AHL.  

Looks like they will clean house with both teams this summer. lol.

 

As far as Fletcher goes I wouldn't mind seeing his duties removed also.  The best saving grace he could have this season is to trade off either Pominville or Vanek before the deadline.

[ruxpin]

Couldn't have come at a better time, as far as I'm concerned.  

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

On February 14, 2016 at 9:12 PM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Sure.

That's exactly how Mike Yeo got the job.

 

I am not knocking trying to get a coach from the AHL...teams have done that in the past with success (TB Lightning anyone?), however, the difference here is, when Mike Yeo was brought up, there was a nice collection of talent ready at the NHL level with more on the way that he knew from coaching them in the minors.

 

Not saying Torchetti wouldn't do a good job, but his situation coming to the NHL compared to Mike Yeo's is WORSE.

The Iowa team is one of the lower scoring teams in the AHL, their defense, on a good day is average, and there are just no real standouts that Torchetti can tell the GM, "Hey, I wanna bring this guy up this year to see what he can do."

 

Like I said, the Wild just don't have many options, and I think the underlying stink here, ultimately, is their GM.

So, having said that, since there IS no one else, I suppose Minnesota can just give their AHL guy a shot, but he just can't expect much support, unless the veterans on the Wild pull their act together.

 

How ya like me now?!?

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

36 minutes ago, AlaskaFlyerFan said:

 

How ya like me now?!?

 

I like this very much in fact!

 

Wanna see more of it beyond this 4 game win streak.

Despite the MUCH improved play of the offense, the team is still out of the playoff picture, and I'd like to see them stay consistent enough to play themselves back in.

 

Torchetti hasn't done a ton different from Yeo, however, it seems that whatever tweaks he has done (and some players have come out and said he allows the more creative players to be, well, creative as opposed to rigid structure)...it has worked out.

 

Teams will no doubt adjust to the "new Wild"...hopefully, Torchetti has something in his bag of tricks that will help he and his team adjust to the adjustments.

 

Holding my breath for yet ANOTHER Wild late season run......