Yeo new Penguins assistant coach

North Bay's Mike Yeo has made the jump from the AHL to the NHL after a Pittsburgh Penguins coaching staff purge which saw the struggling franchise dismiss head coach Eddie Olczyk along with his assistants Joe Mullen and Randy Hillier.

Instead of looking elsewhere for help, the Penguins simply promoted from within as the coaching staff from their AHL farm team in Wilkes-Barre Scranton got bumped up to the NHL club, including assistant coach and former North Bay Trapper Mike Yeo and new head coach and former Montreal Canadiens bench boss Michel Therrien.

Since Olczyk moved from the TV booth to behind the bench in 2003-04, the Penguins are 31-68-14 with losing streaks of 18 games and nine games. They played so badly while losing eight of their last nine, with losses of 5-0 to Minnesota and 3-0 to St. Louis, rookie star Sidney Crosby suggested they all but quit.

In seven seasons coaching in the AHL, Therrien compiled a 209-203-32 record. In three seasons with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, he was 94-81-10.

Yeo, 32, spent seven seasons with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the last six as an assistant coach. Yeo was named an assistant coach on January 24, 2000 after announcing his retirement as a player.

The North Bay, Ontario native spends his off-season in the Gateway city and has worked with Randy Edmonds at his Eurocamp hockey school in the summer.

The former Skyhawks head coach is proud to see Yeo moving up the hockey ladder.

"He has a great passion for the game and is being
rewarded for it," Edmonds said about his friend.

Yeo played in 19 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton during the 1999-00 season before ending his playing career due to knee injuries.

Prior to joining the Penguins’ organization Yeo played five seasons with the Houston Aeros of the IHL. As the team captain during the 1998-99 season, Yeo recorded 18 points (6+12) in 57 games and helped lead the Aeros to the Turner Cup championship. Yeo recorded 127 points (55+72) and 511 penalty minutes in 317 career games with Houston.

With files from pittsburghpenguins.com and sportsnet.ca