New Wild coach Yeo: 'I love a challenge'

Mike Yeo said over the last few weeks, in his mind, he got the Wild head coaching job and didn't get the job "about 76 times."

Friday, general manager Chuck Fletcher made it official: Yeo has the job.

The 37-year-old who guided the AHL Houston Aeros to within a game of the Calder Cup this spring and hoisted the Stanley Cup as a member of Pittsburgh's staff in 2009, was introduced as Minnesota's third head coach at Xcel Energy Center.

At the introductory press conference this morning, Fletcher called Yeo, "the right fit to coach this team at this time."

Yeo beat out several other candidates with multiple years as a head coach behind an NHL bench, including Craig MacTavish and Ken Hitchcock. Fletcher called the two-month search a "tremendous process."

But it was Yeo's no-nonsense coaching style and the detail of Aeros' players on the ice during the AHL playoffs that kept coming back to Fletcher as he mulled his decision.

"He is a straight-shooter who will hold players accountable for their actions on and off the ice," Fletcher said.

His excited smile, though, often turned serious Friday as he was grilled about being an unproven NHL head coach for an organization that hasn't been to the playoffs in three years.

Yeo, known for his straight-shooting ways, used words like aggressive, detailed and smart when describing what kind of product he hopes to put on the ice.

"We're going to go to war together here," he said.

Owner Craig Leipold was unable to attend the announcement, but Fletcher said he was "fully supportive" of the hire.

Many questions remained unanswered, and neither Fletcher nor Yeo have yet talked to any players. But Fletcher did provide some clues to how the rest of the coaching staff will look.

The rest of the staff is Yeo's decision.

It's one he's been waiting for.

"I love a challenge," he said. "I love adversity."