mike yeo

North Bay’s Mike Yeo has a new job.

He’s been named an associate coach by the St Louis Blues and will then take over as head coach for the 2017-18 season, as current head coach Ken Hitchcock will be retiring.

The Blues issued a media release on Monday.

“We’re excited to have Mike Yeo join us an an associate coach for next season and to become the next head coach for the St. Louis Blues for three years after that,” Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong said. “For being 42 years old, he’s got a lot of experience. He’s won a Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh, he’s taken an American League team to the finals and you saw the good job he did in Minnesota in taking that team to the second round. What excites me is his experience, but with his age, he can really relate to today’s players and it’s an exciting day for our team.”

“Wherever I go, I know I want to be surrounded by good people. I know we have that (in St. Louis),” Yeo said. “From ownership, to management, to coaches to the team that they’ve built, I really feel like this is a place where I can be successful. I want to win Stanley Cups, and I believe that we’ve got a group that should go into every season with that mentality. I’m really excited about that.”

Yeo spent the majority of the last five seasons as the head coach of the Minnesota Wild, leading the club to a 173-132-44 record, including a 46-28-8 mark in 2014-15, which was the second-best mark in Wild history. He also guided Minnesota to three postseason appearances, including back-to-back trips to the second round in 2014 and 2015.

Prior to his stint in Minnesota, Yeo spent one season as the head coach of the AHL’s Houston Aeros, where he led the club to the 2011 Calder Cup Final.

He also spent 10 seasons in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, including four seasons as an assistant coach, where he captured the 2009 Stanley Cup.

Yeo’s first six seasons in the organization were spent as an assistant with the Penguins AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

“I feel really confident that the team and the franchise is going to be in great shape with Mike at the helm,” Hitchcock said.