Shun the non-believers: Mike Yeo back for 3rd year

The truth is, Yeo did exactly what any normal hockey fan should have expected: he got the Wild back in the playoffs as a low seed.

Haters are quick to point out Yeo's shortcomings, but here are a few factors that a lot of people are quick to overlook when assessing Yeo's work this season:

Koivu and Parise: What happened?

If both of these 1st line stars hadn't tapered off like that in the end of the season, the Wild would have competed for home ice in the playoffs, without a doubt. How much of this can be blamed on possible injuries? How much can be blamed on chemistry inexplicably vanishing? How much can be blamed on Mike Yeo? There's no clear answer, but one thing is certain: Koivu and Parise didn't quite step up when it mattered most and we wouldn't be talking about Mike Yeo possibly being on the hot seat at the end of the season if they had kept their near point-per-game pace. Mike Yeo certain can't score for them.

Finish. And I'm not talking about people from Finland.

The Wild have struggled to score yet again this season, but this time, it wasn't for lack of trying. The Wild had 1382 shots on net in 48 games this season, which is 28.8 shots per game. They were still ranked in the bottom half in that category (17th), but when you consider they were dead last in the last FOUR seasons with 2174 shots (26.5 per game) in 2011-2012, 2148 shots (26.2 per game) in 2010-2011, 2266 shots (27.6 per game) in 2009-2010 and 2257 shots (27.5 per game) in 2008-2009, they've made a vast improvement. Also, this is only the second time in Wild history that they've finished the season with a positive shot differential (+83). The last time was in 2006-2007 (+70).

They got their chances, but a lot of the time, they just couldn't find the net. They had that seven game winning streak in which they were scoring about 4 goals a game, but other than that, it was pretty ordinary once again. Again, Mike Yeo can't score for them; it's just about finding ways to finish, and that can't really be taught.

Half season = Very few practices

Sure, Yeo's work on the powerplay in Pittsburgh was dreadful, and it still is, but special teams work often go to, or are co-worked with assistant coaches. Yeo isn't alone in this.

Parise and Suter are just two guys.

Way too many people thought that Zach Parise and Ryan Suter made the Wild contenders. More realistic people figured they would at least get them back in the playoffs as a 7th-8th seed. That is exactly what happened, so why are people flipping out over Mike Yeo? He did exactly what should've been expected of the Wild. Unreasonably high expectations made people doubt Mike Yeo, which is absolutely unfair. Ryan Suter had a Norris-worthy season and Zach Parise had a reasonable offensive impact and even that was barely enough to make the Wild a playoff team. Mike Yeo is only now starting to get a roster he can work with.

My point in all this is that Mike Yeo has been pretty good in playing with the hand he's been dealt. A lot of fans have made illusions for themselves that the Wild were already contenders. It's unfair to him. The Wild made the playoffs for the first time in 5 years and lost to the very possible Stanley Cup Champions. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. Sure, it would have been nice to see the Wild in the second round, but you have to walk before you can run, and making the playoffs was progress. There's still a lot of work to be done, such as figuring out how to keep a high level of play in the last months of seasons, and fixing the absolutely atrocious powerplay, but Mike Yeo has shown that when his players are at their best, they can roll with the best of them. It will just be a matter of making the good stretches last longer and shortening the bad stretches.

Yeo has been given a 3rd season, one in which many of us have predicted for a while would be THE year in which we'll see the Wild rise as a legitimate playoff team. We'll see what happens. I, for one, am glad he's staying. A lot of people think that will slow the Wild's progress down, but I'd contend that switching coaches every two years would be even worse. The Wild are starting to get it together, so how about letting things develop? I know a lot of us are impatient, but *insert cliché phrase about good things happening to those who wait here.*

So now, we wait. If after season 3 progress has stalled, it may be a different story, but let's just live for today, shall we?