In the episode of “Becoming Wild” which featured the hiring of Mike Yeo, there was a scene in which Yeo was notified by General Manager Chuck Fletcher that the Pittsburgh Penguins would be on the exhibition schedule. Yeo gave a little fist slam on Fletcher’s desk with a “Nice!”
Tomorrow night, Yeo gets a regular season crack at the Penguins, where we served as an Assistant Coach under both Michel Therrien and Dan Bylsma and won a Stanley Cup.
At least in front of the media, Yeo isn’t showing that same excitement, saying each game is about winning and about the players involved. If there is a little extra churning in his stomach, he’s doing a great job of hiding it.
Yeo admitted that he wasn’t overly saddened that the Penguins may be without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who are expected to be sitting out. He also knows the worst thing his team could do would be to relax due to their absences. The Penguins are still 3-1-2 and have already pumped in a league-leading 18 goals (They are the only team to have played six games thus far).
You can watch Yeo talk about facing Pittsburgh (kind of) here.
Mike Lundin was the only player not on the ice today, but he once again was in the shooting cage and firing pucks.
The lineup is expected to remain the same tomorrow night, other than Niklas Backstrom getting back in goal.
Finally, if you still can’t wait for Mikael Granlund’s debut in a Wild uniform, hopefully this NHL.com feature will tide you over for another day.
wildlighthouse.wordpress.com 