Mike Yeo spoke for the first time since being fired by the Wild on Feb. 13 and he says he’s watched “about 10 minutes” of the Wild since.
Yeo was dismissed at the tail end of a brutal stretch in which the Wild lost 13 of 14 games. Since he’s been gone the Wild has won four of five games and they appear to be rolling in the right direction, just two points out of a Wild Card spot.
Disconnect among players?
Yeo told media outlets that he thought trade rumors played a big role in dividing the locker room, specifically the young and veteran players.
“It was when the trade rumors that came out,” Yeo told KFAN, speaking indirectly about rumors involving young Wild players for Ryan Johansen or Jonathan Drouin. “I think that affected a lot of the people in the locker room.”
Mike Yeo on trade rumors: "Some players were probably hoping it was going to happen and some players were upset it was even talked about."
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) February 24, 2016
“These are things that shouldn’t have broken us, shouldn’t have been that much a factor,” he added in a sit-down interview with the Pioneer Press and Star Tribune.
Additionally, “It just felt like there were almost two groups. There were younger guys, and there were the older guys. It wasn’t just a group.”
Yeo changed the culture
Yeo is pleased that he was able to change the culture in Minnesota and turn the Wild into a team that was once satisfied with making the playoffs into a team with championship aspirations.
What’s next for Yeo? He says he’s open to doing some TV work in the interim, but he definitely wants to be back on the bench as an NHL head coach.
