The Minnesota Wild are back in the market for a new coach. The Wild fired Todd Richards on Monday after the team missed the playoffs in each of his two seasons and for a third straight season overall. The team's playoff fate, and perhaps that of Richards, was sealed by an eight-game losing streak in March. General manager Chuck Fletcher picked Richards as a first-time NHL head coach -- he had been an assistant in the league for only one year prior -- over several more seasoned candidates. Fletcher refused to second-guess his first major decision on the job or blame Richards for the 12th-place finish in the Western Conference. The Wild finished 39-35-8, 11 points out of the final playoff spot. The 44-year-old Richards went 77-71-16 in his two seasons. Read more: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6329087
