In the midst of an eight-game losing streak and a slump that, generally, has stretched back to the turn of the year, the Minnesota Wild fired head coach Mike Yeo on Saturday evening following the Wild’s 4-2 home loss to Boston.
“I would like to thank Mike for the hard work and dedication he provided behind the bench for the Minnesota Wild organization and wish him the best in the future,” General Manager Chuck Fletcher said in a statement Saturday night. The Wild announced Iowa Wild head coach John Torchetti would be the interim head coach for the rest of the season.
Yeo was in his fifth season as Head Coach of the Wild and posted a record of 173-132-44 in the regular season and led Minnesota to the Stanley Cup Playoffs the last three seasons after a five-year absence.
Last season, the Wild went 46-28-8 last season registering the second most wins and points in franchise history, which set up very large expectations for this season. Bovada sportsbook in Las Vegas had the Wild with the sixth-best odds of winning the Stanley Cup before the season started. However, since the calendar turned 2016, the team has won only three of 19 games — and none of them at home.
Torchetti was named Iowa’s head coach at the start of last season. He was the head coach at CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League in 2012-13. Torchetti guided the Wild’s AHL affiliate in Houston from 2011-13 posting a record of 75-51-0-26 and advanced to the playoffs both seasons. He took the Houston job from Yeo, after Yeo was named the Wild’s head coach.
His NHL coaching resume includes stops in Tampa Bay (1999-2001), Florida (2002-04), Los Angeles (2005-06), Chicago (2007-10) and Atlanta (2010-11).
Prior to joining the Thrashers, Torchetti served as an assistant coach for the Chicago Blackhawks. During his time in Chicago, he helped the team improve in wins and points each season as the Blackhawks advanced to the 2009 Western Conference Finals and won the 2010 Stanley Cup Championship.
Torchetti has served as an interim head coach in the NHL twice previously: with the Florida Panthers in 2003-04, where he posted a 10-12-4-1 record and with the Los Angeles Kings in 2005-06, earning a 5-7-0 record in the final 12 games of the season.
Torchetti joins the Wild as they embark on a three-game Western Canada trip to Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. Torchetti’s first game as head coach will be in the Stadium Series against Chicago on Feb. 21 at TCF Bank Stadium.
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