Brad Ratgen: Time for Yeo to Go? Should the Wild change head coaches?

Just got a call from a colleague from the press box urging me to write a piece saying the Wild should fire Yeo tonight! He pointed to the fragility of a team with a 3 goal lead falling apart after getting scored on. I should add that I had already posted my piece here and he had not read it yet.

Brad Ratgen: Time for Yeo to Go?
Should the Wild change head coaches?
- Brad Ratgen

Still to early into season and also still in the playoff picture......
Oh and a sloppy game from both teams tonight

put heatley on the top line. 50 in 07

I would personally keep Yeo on to have him explain away the rest of the season the failures of this #BridgeYear Wild squad. Why draw heat to yourself if your Chuck Fletcher? Take a page out of Rick Spielman's book and keep your Leslie Frazier around to be the guy that looks like a jack hole wondering why this is happnening after every loss.

I would personally keep Yeo on to have him explain away the rest of the season the failures of this #BridgeYear Wild squad. Why draw heat to yourself if your Chuck Fletcher? Take a page out of Rick Spielman's book and keep your Leslie Frazier around to be the guy that looks like a jack hole wondering why this is happnening after every loss.
- Tony Dean

Ha! Great point. Well done, Sir. Bravo!!!!

I think it's time to trade for Vanek... I mean that plan has worked out so well for the Islanders, right? The Sabres have looked better since they dealt him away... be careful what you ask for, Minnesota, be careful what you ask for.

If Minny does replace Yeo, I hope they go with an offence-minded coach. I am really hoping for a Jets-Wild rivalry but it's like trying to walk a cat with this defensive system the Wild have in place.

I think it's time to trade for Vanek... I mean that plan has worked out so well for the Islanders, right? The Sabres have looked better since they dealt him away... be careful what you ask for, Minnesota, be careful what you ask for.
- djc1877

This guy is a complete moron
1. The isles first line is much better with Vanek there, both offensively and defensively
2. The sabres are playing better because of their coaching change

I would personally keep Yeo on to have him explain away the rest of the season the failures of this #BridgeYear Wild squad. Why draw heat to yourself if your Chuck Fletcher? Take a page out of Rick Spielman's book and keep your Leslie Frazier around to be the guy that looks like a jack hole wondering why this is happnening after every loss.
- Tony Dean

The thing that is troubling right now is they seem to have no identity again. Early on, they were a decent possession team, pretty good defensively with very good goaltending from Harding that built up a pretty good record against mostly the bottom half of the league. Then they went up against the top half of the league and those possession numbers declined and the defensive game got worse. Now they really can't do anything all that well against any team in the league.

Eric Duhatschek, from the The Globe and Mail, made a point early on in the season when analyzing the Flames good start that the level of play in the NHL tends to go up a notch after the first month or so and then starts to intensify. His point was that a good first 10-15 games isn't necessarily the best barometer for your team. And I wonder if that applies here to the Wild.

The system Yeo has may have worked well for this team early in the season when other teams weren't at their best and the level of play wasn't quite as sharp and tightened up as it is now. They gained some confidence off their good start, but once things started to go the other way and the system didn't get them out of it, they may have lost confidence in it and they may already be tuning Yeo out.

If the players don't believe in the system, Yeo will have to go. I don't know if that's where they are at, but Fletcher better find out right now.

If the players believe in the system and just aren't playing it, then it's time for Yeo to sit down anyone who isn't making a commitment to playing the system.

I'm starting to think these guys just don't believe in the system and revert to just playing their own way when things go bad. That's about the only way I can explain what happened last night.

Hey Brad,
I heard Minnesota honored Clutterbuck with a message on the scoreboard and a huge ovation. Do you have a link for that?

I'm starting to think these guys just don't believe in the system and revert to just playing their own way when things go bad. That's about the only way I can explain what happened last night.
- Chinaski

As pathetic as Yeos post game presser was last night, he did get one thing right... "We just stopped playing"... and I think that speaks volumes about a guys ability (or lackthereof) to rally his troops. I think he commands the respect of his players, but I dont' think a lack of respect is Yeos problem.

I at least give him credit for getting up there and trying to somehow explain a 5 goals to 1 second half of the game against a team that has struggled mightily to win games this season, but just like last season and the season before when the bottom eventually falls out, he looks like a deer in the headlights standing there in front of the media almost looking like he's going to start crying... Yeo may be an intelligent hockey IQ guy, but I think it's fairly clear now that he's far from being a leader.

I don't think this season is quite yet lost but to be fair to Yeo, I think he should get one last crack at getting this team back into playoff contention. More or less I think as the Wild go so then should Yeo. If he can get them back to winning enough to make the playoffs his job should be safe, but once they are mathmatically elimintated, time to start the search for a new coach... Same should go for Fletcher, he gets one last crack at finding the right coach.

Hey Brad,
I heard Minnesota honored Clutterbuck with a message on the scoreboard and a huge ovation. Do you have a link for that?
- NYI44

No

Yes.

Yes.
- SotaPopinski

No

Maybe.

put heatley on the top line. 50 in 07
- lkeh73

THIS!!!!

Maybe.
- MnGump

Perhaps