Mike Yeo Headed to Houston

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]

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Mondesi Field Trip to Pens Practice

Why do all these kids want a picture of Mike Yeo? Oh, wait. #87 is standing there, too.

After all these years living in the backyard of the Pittsburgh Penguins' practice facility, I finally decided to take the afternoon off and check it out firsthand. With father and brother Mondesi in tow, we descended on the beautiful Iceoplex at Southpointe in Canonsburg, PA, for an official Penguins practice. Keep in mind one thing---the Penguins' practice uniforms are made with a material that is very reflective of things like, say, a digital camera flash. So your eyes are not deceiving you. This is not Tron on Ice.

Escalade, Range Rover, Escalade...yep, I think we're at the right place. Although it seems like a rather random place to set up a playhouse.

The fantastic Jay's Sports Bar, overlooking Penguins practice. I recommend the cheese fries.

Georges Laraque and Gary Roberts discuss how many Pittsburghers skip work and school to watch hockey practice

Laraque does an effective job screening Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury is too afraid to ask him to move out of the way.

Anyone in school today...anyone?

Here's a great shot of the "luxury boxes" in Jay's sports bar, overlooking practice.

Take a knee, boys. We need to discuss these GwenJen pictures.

MAF, biding his time until the next shootout on Saturday night.

Ryan Malone, who for some reason glows like this even when he's not wearing a jersey.

This has to be the only set-up where you can watch a world class team practice while running on a treadmill. Only in Canonsburg, folks.

Laraque watches as a teammate vaporizes before his very eyes.

Brooks Orpik, obviously needing a bathroom break, is forced to hold it.

Autograph hounds line up for a shot at a signature from their favorite player. Alas, Michel Ouellet will sign zero autographs.

So what other info could I add to my photo essay, you ask?

-There's a nice memorabilia display set up in the front of practice, with everything you'd possibly need to try and get signed. If you plan on getting a signature, it helps if you're either A. 10 years old or B. a female.

-Maxime Talbot and Evgeni Malkin like to blast pucks into the boards and directly at the glass at very high speeds for no apparent reason other than to amuse themselves and possibly the crowd.

-Jarko Ruutu entertained the crowd with one of the loudest F-bombs ever known to man when he was stuffed on a breakaway

-Eric Christensen and Marc-Andre Fleury gravitate toward each other during timeouts.

-Sidney Crosby did not participate in the last 20 minutes or so of drills, as he was talking hockey with Mike Yeo (seen in the photo above).

-Ray Shero was sitting amongst the crowd...in fact, he was three rows behind me. At one point, he asked who the nerd taking pictures was.

-The next scheduled practice is Friday, March 23rd at 2 PM. You can eat lunch, do your workout, and catch the Pens, all in the span of an afternoon.