Mike Yeo has become the head coach of the St. Louis Blues sooner than expected as the team fired Ken Hitchcock on Wednesday morning.

Hitchcock, 65, has coached the Blues for the past six seasons, posting a record of 248-124-41. St. Louis has made the playoffs every year under Hitchcock, getting as far as the Western Conference Final last year where they lost to the San Jose Sharks. He signed a one-year contract in the summer, at which point Yeo was scheduled to take over as the team’s head coach for the 2017-18 season after joining as the team’s associate head coach for 2015-16.

The Blues currently sit fourth in the Central Division and second in the Western Conference Wild Card race with 53 points. They have lost five of their last six games and went 5-8 in January. 
 

Worst Records in NHL - Dec. 8 to Present

 
Team GP W L OTL Pts%
Colorado Avalanche 23 4 18 1 0.196
Arizona Coyotes 24 8 14 2 0.375
St. Louis Blues 24 9 14 1 0.396
New Jersey Devils 26 9 14 3 0.404
Tampa Bay Lightning 24 8 12 4 0.417
 

The Edmonton native joined the Blues in 2011 after a 15-year head coaching career with the Dallas Stars, Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets. Hitchcock won a Stanley Cup with the Stars in 1998-99 and a Jack Adams award in 2011-12, his first year in St. Louis.  

The Blues are expected to fire goalie coach Jim Corsi as well, according to NHL.com's Lou Korac. 

Yeo, 42, spent the majority of the past five seasons as the head coach of the Minnesota Wild.  During his tenure, the North Bay, Ontario, native led the Wild to a 173-132-44 regular season record, including a 46-28-8 mark in 2014-15, which was the second best record in Wild franchise history.  Yeo also guided the Wild to three postseason berths, including back-to-back trips to the second round in 2014 and 2015.

LeBrun: Not surprised with the Hitchcock firing

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun wasn't surprised with the Blues firing Ken Hitchcock today because you got the feeling that players were starting to tune him out.

Prior to his stint in Minnesota, Yeo spent one season as the head coach of the American Hockey League's Houston Aeros, where he led the club to the 2011 Calder Cup Final.  He also spent 10 seasons in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, including four seasons as an assistant coach with Pittsburgh, where he captured the 2009 Stanley Cup.  Yeo's first six seasons in the organization were spent as an assistant with the Penguins AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Yeo will make his debut on Thursday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.