mike yeo

Some NHL-level coaching tips for local coaches who have taken part in Coach4Food over the past decade.

The session involved North Bay’s Mike Yeo, who was recently named associate coach of the St Louis Blues.

Yeo, who is from North Bay says leadership is key with the players, “They don’t follow a tactician, they’re going to follow a leader. The x’s and o’s and that part of it that doesn’t matter unless you’re doing the right things to inspire, to lead and to represent. That’s one of the things that I’ve learned along the way.”

In what he calls a unique situation, Yeo is slated to take over as head coach of the Blues next season when Ken Hitchcock retires, “I wasn’t going to take an assistant position, but they offered me this with the chance to be head coach following the one year as associate coach. For me, the more I started to think about it ,to have a chance to work for a guy like Ken Hitchcock, it seemed like kind of a no-brainer.”

He’ll be in the area for a couple weeks before heading to St Louis later this month.

“Mike has been a great supporter of Coach4Food and it will be an amazing opportunity for local coaches to ask a world-class coach any question they want,” said Coach4Food Founder Tom Hedican. “When I asked him to do this, he immediately said yes, even though he has very limited time at home in the summer in North Bay. It just tells you who he is as a person.”

“I am thrilled to have such a successful coach, and outstanding person, support the Coach4Food Program, and help our local coaches,” said Hedican.

Coach4Food has now raised more than 1.3 million pounds of food in Ontario, in partnership with the Ontario Hockey League’s Shutout Hunger Program, with nearly half that amount being raised in North Bay for the North Bay Food Bank, and other local food banks.

While 2015 was the last year for practices run by Hedican, Coach4Food will continue in 2016 in North Bay as it does in other OHL cities, with the top three collecting teams receiving a practice from the North Bay Battalion.