February 1st, 2017, the St. Louis Blues’ goaltending is a mess and the Blues are out of a playoff spot. That day, Blues’ GM Doug Armstrong relieved longtime head coach Ken Hitchcock of his head coaching duties and promoted former Minnesota Wild head coach, Mike Yeo, who had been signed in the offseason to take over for Hitchcock after the season. Fueling doubt that their season was over, the Blues traded Kevin Shattenkirk, a then upcoming UFA, to the Washington Capitals at the trade deadline.
The team largely responded to Yeo’s coaching and by March 31st, the team had clinched a playoff spot.