Pittsburghers high off the buzz of finding out that Pedro Alvarez will be joining the Pirates now have another bit of news they've awaited for a long time: Penguin assistant Mike Yeo is headed out of town.
The team didn't fire him, he's actually taking a new gig as the head coach of the Houston Aeros, AHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild. Ironically, he would be replacing former Penguin head coach Kevin Constantine, who Houston fired last month.
While the Penguins did win a Stanley Cup with Yeo on the payroll, I'd put his moving on in the same class as former Pitt football OC Matt Cavanaugh taking an assistant coaching job with the New York Jets last year: it's probably the best-case scenario for everyone involved.
Yeo has been with the Pens' organization since the 1999-00 season, when he was a player with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. 19 games into the season, Yeo suffered a career-ending knee injury and subsequently accepted an offer to become Glenn Patrick's assistant, remaining in that position when Michel Therrien replaced Patrick in 2003 and following Therrien to Pittsburgh in 2005.
Yeo was a constant target for fans unhappy with the performance of his power-play unit, which was ranked 20th in both the 2008-09 and 2009-10 regular seasons, despite the presence of world-class talent. Whether or not he can develop young talent in the minors is another issue altogether, one that's Minnesota's concern and not ours.
It will be interesting to see who fills the vacancy on Dan Bylsma's staff. An emailer just told me he'd rather trust Pedro Alvarez overseeing the power play than Yeo, but I'm guessing that's probably not going to happen.
Houston Chronicle: Wild to hire Yeo as AHL coach- 06-15-10 [Empty Netters]
Yeo was a constant target for fans unhappy with the performance of his power-play unit, which was ranked 20th in both the 2008-09 and 2009-10 regular seasons, despite the presence of world-class talent. Whether or not he can develop young talent in the minors is another issue altogether, one that's Minnesota's concern and not ours.
It will be interesting to see who fills the vacancy on Dan Bylsma's staff. An emailer just told me he'd rather trust Pedro Alvarez overseeing the power play than Yeo, but I'm guessing that's probably not going to happen.
Houston Chronicle: Wild to hire Yeo as AHL coach- 06-15-10 [Empty Netters]
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2 comments:
The Pens should hire Gary Roberts. He's admitted he really likes Pittsburgh and outside of Calgary was his favorite place to play. Plus, he's a smart guy who over his career has probably learned a thing or two about the power play, especially going to the net (something the Pens have yet to figure out) and his leadership and presence would be a welcome asset behind the bench as well as in the locker room.
Outside of being a nice guy, did the Pens players really respect Yeo and his whole 19 games of AHL experience? I doubt it.
I nominate Reg Dunlop.
They won because he made them crazy.
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