He is the former Head Coach of the Minnesota Mild who was fired after the team kept underperforming. Well, he failed up, latching onto a HC-In-Waiting spot with the St. Louis Blues, and once the Blues started off the blocks slowly, they ushered in the change. And like with his tenure with Minnesota, Yeo kept winning at a middling pace and making little waves in the playoffs.
He was cashiered in November, replaced on an interim basis by Craig Berube. The coaching change did nothing, at least at first. St. Louis bottomed out just after the New Year, with the fewest points of any team in the National Hockey League. But, on the strength of rookie Goaltender Jordan Binnington, they slowly made their climb and, eventually, reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is hockey, of course, but come playoff time, every team really does have a chance. And thus St. Louis did, taking 26 games in order to win the 16 needed to lift the Cup. The Blues had no home-ice advantage in any of their four series. Moreover, they finished with a better road record (capped by beating the Bruins last/Wednesday night in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals) than home record. On top of that, that home record is 6-7 -- below .500. Dreadful, and yet the Blues were able to consistently win on the road, including the last three games in Boston this series.
What ushered in the turnaround? Writers say that having decent, let alone world-beating, goaltender was the main factor. But you also cannot defy the fact that the Blues were shit under Yeo and then gelled under Berube. The Head Coach change had to have something to do with this too, no?
I've been to many St. Louis Blues games, including one this spring. I really wanted the Blues, and St. Louis Blues fans, to finally claim a Stanley Cup. The franchise has been around for 52 seasons, and finally, that organization can say they have won a title. And they did it without the man who was Head Coach when this season began. Feeling as though the one thing that was screwing up a team was you, and that the results after your canning justifies the move? That has got to hurt.
Poor bastard.
He was cashiered in November, replaced on an interim basis by Craig Berube. The coaching change did nothing, at least at first. St. Louis bottomed out just after the New Year, with the fewest points of any team in the National Hockey League. But, on the strength of rookie Goaltender Jordan Binnington, they slowly made their climb and, eventually, reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is hockey, of course, but come playoff time, every team really does have a chance. And thus St. Louis did, taking 26 games in order to win the 16 needed to lift the Cup. The Blues had no home-ice advantage in any of their four series. Moreover, they finished with a better road record (capped by beating the Bruins last/Wednesday night in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals) than home record. On top of that, that home record is 6-7 -- below .500. Dreadful, and yet the Blues were able to consistently win on the road, including the last three games in Boston this series.
What ushered in the turnaround? Writers say that having decent, let alone world-beating, goaltender was the main factor. But you also cannot defy the fact that the Blues were shit under Yeo and then gelled under Berube. The Head Coach change had to have something to do with this too, no?
I've been to many St. Louis Blues games, including one this spring. I really wanted the Blues, and St. Louis Blues fans, to finally claim a Stanley Cup. The franchise has been around for 52 seasons, and finally, that organization can say they have won a title. And they did it without the man who was Head Coach when this season began. Feeling as though the one thing that was screwing up a team was you, and that the results after your canning justifies the move? That has got to hurt.
Poor bastard.
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