The Minnesota Wild have reportedly fired head coach Mike Yeo, according to Rich Walsh of KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh. The Wild lost 4-2 to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, their eighth consecutive defeat.
Just found out Mike Yeo was just fired as Minnesota Wild Head Coach. Yeo was a former Penguins assistant under Dan Bylsma.
— Rich Walsh KDKA (@RichieWalsh) February 14, 2016
That report was later confirmed.
Via text, Mike Yeo confirms he has been fired by the #mnwild
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) February 14, 2016
Following the game, Yeo said he would not quit on his team.
“I’m not freaking quitting here, and I’m not quitting on this group,” he told reporters after the Bruins game. “I’m going to show some fight, and I believe in the group, but better start believing in each other and better start delivering.”
When asked if he thought he would lose his job, Yeo responded:
“I’m a realist. You can’t lose every game and expect to think that there’s not going to be changes. I’m operating under the assumption that I’ll be the coach tomorrow, and I know what I’m going to do and it’s going to be something different from what we’ve done.
“That’s what happens. When you lose, you’re looking for a response, you need a response, and so you can try to, whether it’s change players, whether it’s change coach, whether you don’t do anything, you’re either going to get a response from the group and you’re going to change things or you’re not and you’re not going to change things. And that’s what we need right now. We need a response because that was not good enough.”
Update:
JUST IN: @mnwild name John Torchetti as interim head coach, replacing Mike Yeo #TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/3XSWc8yoCf
— SportsCentre (@SportsCentre) February 14, 2016