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Yeo will have Wild more aggressive, hates ‘dump-and-chase’ label

Minnesota Wild v Phoenix Coyotes

GLENDALE, AZ - FEBRUARY 28: Head coach Mike Yeo of the Minnesota Wild looks on from the bench during the NHL game against the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena on February 28, 2013 in Glendale, Arizona. The Wild defeated the Coyotes 4-3. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

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Many fans hold the belief that the Minnesota Wild are still the stodgy, boring dump-and-chase team Jacques Lemaire once coached.

Current Wild coach Mike Yeo is getting pretty tired of that label as he tells Michael Russo of The Star Tribune.

“I hate that people think that we’re a dump-and-chase team,” Yeo says. “It’s completely false. I count it as a turnover. If we dump the puck in and the goalie touches the puck, that’s a turnover for me.”

What does he see the Wild as instead? An aggressive and exciting one and one that’s going to force teams to turn the puck over to them. More from Russo:

“Our fans will really enjoy this. We’re going to be more aggressive off the rush. We want to be more of a puck possession team, so it’s as simple as asking, ‘Who gets the puck after you have it?’”

Possessing the puck with guys like Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, Zach Parise, and Mikko Koivu makes accomplishing that a lot easier. For Yeo, it might be easier to make that happen than it is to shake off the memories (nightmares?) of how ugly hockey used to look in St. Paul.

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