(Feb. 1, 2017) – St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced today the Blues have relieved Ken Hitchcock of his coaching duties. Associate Coach Mike Yeo (YOH), who was hired this past offseason as the incumbent to Hitchcock, will begin his tenure as head coach when the Blues host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday at 8 p.m. at Scottrade Center. Armstrong and Yeo will hold a press conference today at 10 a.m. at St. Louis Mills. Following the press conference, the Blues will hold practice at 11:45 a.m.

Yeo, 43, is currently in his first season with the Blues after spending the majority of the last five campaigns as head coach of the Minnesota Wild. Yeo led the Wild to a 173-132-44 record during his tenure, including a 46-28-8 mark in 2014-15 which served as the second best record in Wild franchise history. The North Bay, Ontario, native also guided the Wild to three postseason appearances including back-to-back trips to the second round in 2014 and 2015. Prior to his stint in Minnesota, Yeo spent one season as head coach of the American Hockey League's (AHL) Houston Aeros, where he led the club to the 2011 Calder Cup Final. Yeo also spent four seasons as an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins where he captured the 2009 Stanley Cup. His first six seasons in the Penguins organization were spent as an assistant with their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Hitchcock joined the Blues on Nov. 8, 2011. Over the past six seasons, he led the Blues to a 248-124-41 regular season record. Hitchcock ranks second on the Blues' all-time regular season wins list and fourth in NHL history overall with 781 career regular season wins.