Blues fire Ken Hitchcock and promote Mike Yeo to head coach

The St. Louis Blues were apparently not content to wait out their head coach’s expiring contract.

In some surprising news on Wednesday morning, the St. Louis Blues announced that GM Doug Armstrong had fired head coach Ken Hitchcock. Assistant coach (and former Minnesota Wild coach) Mike Yeo will take over immediately behind the bench.

Yeo was hired as Hitchcock’s replacement before the season, as Hitchcock had made it clear that he was going to move on from the Blues after signing a one-year deal this past offseason.

But the Blues have scuffled lately, dropping five of their last six games and going 5-8 in January. A bad loss against Winnipeg at home on Tuesday leaves them fighting for the wild card in the Western Conference. Considering how weak the conference is this season, Armstrong’s dissatisfaction may come as no surprise.

Hitchcock spent six seasons behind the St. Louis bench, reaching second all-time in Blues wins with a 248-124-41 record and playoff appearances in each season. With Hitchcock’s job security and contract expiring, the Blues reached the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2001 last season. Hitchcock was the coach of the Dallas Stars when they won the Stanley Cup in 1999.

With Yeo at the helm, the Minnesota Wild went 173-132-44 and reached the playoffs three times. The Wild fired Yeo in the middle of the 2015-16 season due to performance not meeting expectations, not unlike how Hitchcock’s tenure ultimately ended in St. Louis.