ST. PAUL, Minn. -- On the surface, Minnesota Wild head coach Mike Yeo is at ease as he prepares to face the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs for the second consecutive year.
By all accounts, Yeo isn't creating a public facade while panicking behind the scenes, the proverbial duck in water which is calm above the surface and paddling tirelessly underneath.
The only coach in franchise history to reach the second round twice, Yeo is comfortable even in the pressured environment of the playoffs with his developing team following his lead.
"You have to credit him for that, for sure, because it's every day," center Kyle Brodziak said of Yeo's consistent approach. "We come in every day and we practice the same habits, and the things we talk about never change. I think it's important because we really start to believe in it and you start to really know that's what you need to do and how you need to act, and how you need to prepare and all the little things like that to have success. So, it's been really important."
Minnesota has reached the second round of the playoffs for just the third time in the team's history. Yeo, hired four years ago after coaching the team's American Hockey League affiliate in Houston, has grown right along with his team.
With four seasons under his belt and three straight playoff appearances -- also a franchise first -- Yeo is still the league's youngest coach at 41 years old.
"Don't feel it," Yeo quipped this week. "Some of these playoff series, I think coaching is like dog years. Yeah, I don't feel like it. Age is one thing, but experience is another. So, obviously would like to keep gaining experience here in a head-coaching capacity."
Some weren't sure if Yeo would even make it here. Plenty of reports surfaced midway through last season that Yeo was close to being fired. The Wild then went on a second-half run to earn a wild-card spot in the playoffs and won their first playoff series since 2003.
Sound familiar?
This year, Minnesota was on the ropes again when it slipped to 12th in the Western Conference because of inconsistent goaltending and injuries to key players. Yeo didn't sway far from his message and the Wild traded for goaltender Devan Dubnyk. They beat Buffalo in Dubnyk's first game and are back in the second round of the playoffs.
Jovial and at ease, Yeo agreed with a reporter that said handling the pressure of the playoffs is easy after enduring the midseason slumps.
"That's true, the months of December and January have taken their toll," Yeo said, laughing.
Losing appeared to take its toll when Yeo tried to ignite his team with an expletive-laced tired during a January practice. Yeo barked at his team and stormed off the ice, breaking a stick along the wall.
The outburst was rare for Yeo. And when he talked with the media later, he had calmed down and tried to downplay the incident.
"He's had a lot of patience," forward Zach Parise said. "He's had a lot of belief in us individually and belief in what we're doing and what we're trying to do. It would've been easy earlier to start flipping desks and breaking sticks -- which he did once -- but with the stuff that we were dealing with at the beginning of the year, he stayed patient with us and we turned it around."
The Wild have responded to Yeo's guidance when the outlook appeared bleak. The players watched closely and saw the coaching growing in his role while the team was doing the same.
"I think we see it even more probably inside the locker room and the way he's handling things," captain Mikko Koivu said. "For sure it's easier for a coach when things are going well, but I think when you get tested is when things aren't going our way and I think that's when you can see the way he's got better. That's the way it should be."
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