Former Chicago Blackhawks coach John Torchetti was named the Minnesota Wild’s interim coach after the team fired Mike Yeo on Saturday.
The Wild dropped their eighth straight game following Yeo’s dismal in the middle of his fifth year with Minnesota. The Wild are currently 23-22-10 this season with 56 points, which ranks second to last in the Central Division. Yeo had a 173-132-44 record in Minnesota with three postseason appearances that each resulted with a handshake line with Chicago. He was 11-17 in the playoffs.
Torchetti has served as Minnesota’s head coach of their AHL affiliate, Iowa Wild. He assisted behind the Chicago bench from 2007-10, helping the team to their first Stanley Cup in 49 years.
Following the Blackhawks’ 2010 Stanley Cup win, Torchetti left to become an associate head coach for the Atlanta Thrashers (now the Winnipeg Jets). The following year, he was hired as the new head coach of the Houston Aeros, then the Wild’s AHL affiliate, replacing Yeo, who was promoted to coach the Wild at the NHL level. In 2013-14, Torchetti coach KHL’s CSKA Moscow and in November 2014, he returned the U.S. to coach Iowa.