North Bay's Mike Yeo is back as a National Hockey League head coach again.
Yeo, who was an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers was named the new interim head coach of the struggling NHL squad today as the team fired head coach Alain Vigneault.
The 60-year-old Vigneault was in his third year leading the Flyers.
The 48-year-old Yeo was in his third season as Flyers assistant. He's 246-181-55 in 482 regular-season games, and 17-22 in 39 postseason games as coach of the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues.
As an assistant coach, Yeo won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins back in 2009.
This is not the first time Yeo has come in mid-season moving from the assistant coaching role to the head coaching position. When in St. Louis, Yeo took over for outgoing head coach Ken Hitchcock in February of 2017.
Back that year, Yeo admitted it was an awkward position that left him feeling mixed emotions.
See related: Yeo back in the NHL as head coach
The Flyers (8-10-4) have lost eight straight games (0-6-2), including a disappointing 7-1 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. As a result of the slide, they sit seventh in the eight-team Metropolitan Division.
"We have a lot of guys in there that really care, and we want to we want to do well," Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk said Sunday on NHL.com.
"We're working hard at it. Obviously, we know it's a results-based thing and we need better results right now. I think if we just stick with our process, stick together as a team and find better results starting tomorrow."
Scoring has been a big issue for the Flyers. NHL.com reports that the Flyers are averaging 2.32 goals per game, 28th in the NHL, and their power play is 30th (13.4 percent). In their past eight games, they've been outscored 36-13, allowed 35.3 shots on goal per game and the power play is 2-for-22 (9.1 percent).
The Flyers have also been hit by the injury bug losing defenceman Ryan Ellis, Kevin Hayes, Joel Farabee, Derick Brassard, and Nate Thompson to start the year.
"That's just excuses," Flyers captain Claude Giroux said last week. "Injuries or not, whoever is in the lineup, we need to dig in and play better."
Yeo will make his Flyers debut as interim head coach tonight as they play the Colorado Avalanche at home.
