Latest news with #Evason
Calgary Herald
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Calgary Herald
Flames coach Ryan Huska on invite to world championship: ‘It is such an honour'
Article content In fact, that's a huge part of the appeal of this role at worlds. Article content Canada's staff, which formally was announced Wednesday, will include a hat-trick of NHL head coaches — Evason, Huska and Andrew Brunette. Steve McCarthy, one of Evason's usual assistants in Columbus, also is on board. Article content 'Whenever you get a chance to take a step back and evaluate and watch and listen to another head coach's way of doing things, I think you can always take little bits of information, whether it's the way they present or the way they think the game tactically or systems-wise,' said Huska, who will be tasked with running Canada's penalty-kill. 'So is there something that I can take or use from them to help make our team better and to help make myself better? And then, you also get an opportunity to work with some of the better players in the NHL that aren't fortunate enough to be playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs right now. Article content Article content 'You spend basically every day for almost a month with the same group of guys, so you're going to have a lot of conversations. Some of those will be off-the-cuff, where you're just sitting having lunch or having a beer and you start talking hockey. Article content 'Other times, you're going to be right into work mode, when we're trying to help our team win a gold medal. I think you can gain so much by being around other quality people. That's one of the big reasons why I'm looking forward to it.' Article content Of course, it's not just about bringing back knowledge. Article content Article content Huska's previous international assignments have ended with near-misses. During his days with the WHL's Kelowna Rockets, he was twice an assistant coach at the world junior, settling for silver in 2011 and bronze in 2012. Article content 'Expectations, as you know, with Canada are very much to go over and win. And that's what our expectation is to do,' Huska said. 'For us, it's about finding a way to get the team on the same page in short order and get them through the early portion of the tournament to make sure that we're playing our very best as it moves forward.
New York Times
30-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Why coaching Team Canada has deep, long-held meaning for Blue Jackets' Dean Evason
COLUMBUS, Ohio — On the morning after the Columbus Blue Jackets ended their season, the dressing room and back hallways of Nationwide Arena were buzzing. Some players packed up their locker belongings and got ready to head home for the offseason, while others milled about, mulling their next steps. Advertisement Coach Dean Evason didn't meet with every player, but he sat down for a face-to-face meeting with a few players, especially those who were leaving Columbus quickly. Those who stay year-round will likely grab coffee or lunch with the coach, he said. In the middle of all this, Evason received a call from the senior vice president of hockey operations for Team Canada's national team, Scott Salmond, who was in search of a coach for the IIHF World Championships and wanted to touch base before Evason started making offseason plans of his own. 'If you could be patient with leaving or booking flights anywhere,' Salmond told Evason, 'there's a consideration for you with Team Canada.' Evason had just finished maybe his finest season as an NHL coach, leading the young, patchwork Blue Jackets to a surprising 40-33-9 record, a whopping 23-point improvement over the previous season. The Jackets were the last NHL club eliminated from the playoffs, learning their fate with one game left in the season. The season had been positive and lifting on the whole, but the ending — coming oh-so-close, but not getting there — was deeply frustrating to Evason. He could use a lift. Salmond provided the tease. Three days later, the follow-up call came. '(Team Canada GM) Kyle Dubas called and asked if I would be interested,' Evason said. 'And I said, 'Yes, of course.' I didn't even have to think about it. 'I know there are different circumstances as to why guys turn it down. But to me, unless you're hurt, unless you're injured, unless you've got something of significance going on … if you can still play hockey, why not play hockey? And to represent your country is such an honor. It didn't take any time. I just said yes.' Evason left Columbus on Tuesday, flying to Vienna, Austria, where Team Canada will have two practices and a tune-up game against Austria. Then it's on to Budapest, Hungary, where they'll play a second tune-up game, and then Stockholm ahead of the tournament, which runs May 9-25 in Sweden and Denmark. Advertisement There have been other players who are more intrinsically linked to their national teams than Evason is to Team Canada. In Canada, that's golden-goal scorers Sidney Crosby and Marie-Philip Poulin, as well as the legendary Paul Henderson. But Evason's inclusion with Team Canada has taken place at some of the most important times in his career — a strong World Junior Championship in 1984, his final year of junior before he turned pro; a World Championships appearance that helped extend his pro career in 1997; and now, as he's gaining attention as one of the NHL's top coaches. Evason was coming off a monster 1982-83 season with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League. In 70 games, he scored 71 goals and had 93 assists, a 164-point season that, incredibly, was second in the WHL. Still, Evason said, he wasn't a lock to make Team Canada's entry the following season at the World Juniors in Sweden. 'I made it as a right winger,' said Evason, who had 6-3-9 in seven games in the tournament. 'Mario Lemieux was hurt prior to coming and it gave me an opportunity, I think, to probably make the team. 'The tournament was funky. We finished fourth because there was no playoff, no medal rounds. It was just a round-robin on points and then it ended. We lost to Finland. We tied Russia. We lost to Czech Republic. But we really would have liked a medal round, you know?' Evason, who was a fifth-round pick (No. 89) by the Washington Capitals in 1982, made his NHL debut a few months after that tournament, playing two games at the end of the season. He was off and running on an 803-game NHL career with Washington, Hartford, San Jose, Dallas and Calgary. Over his 15-year career, Evason was a feisty, indefatigable forward who spent most of his time under the opponents' skin. For longtime Blue Jackets fans, think Tyler Wright. Advertisement Just as Team Canada was there at the start of Evason's pro career, so it was a big part of the end of his NHL playing days. Evason's contract was bought out by the Calgary Flames following his 1995-96 season, in which he had seven goals and seven assists in 67 games. As the summer moved along, there were no NHL offers, just a few AHL contracts on the table with invitations to the NHL training camp. 'I was skating in the summer, staying in shape,' Evason said. '(Longtime NHL coach Andy Murray) comes up to me on the ice one day — this was his camp I was skating at — and he asked what I was doing next season.' That started a conversation that brought Evason back into the fold with Team Canada. Back then, Canada maintained a team that played its own season, much like the barnstorming days of old. They'd play tournaments all over the world, anywhere they could find games. Murray was the coach, and he brought Evason along as one of his players. 'There were a bunch of 18-to-24-year-olds on the team,' Evason said. 'We went to the Deutschland Cup (in Germany), the Spengler Cup (in Switzerland), the Izvestia Cup (in Russia), the Globen Cup (in Sweden) … we even went to Japan to play the Japanese National Team, because it was right before the Olympics in Nagano. 'We went to like 11 or 12 countries. I just soaked it all up. I had been bought out by the Flames, so I wasn't worried about money. I was skating my a– off, working out … I was in the best shape of my career.' That spring, the AHL's Houston Aeros wanted to sign Evason for their playoff run. When he told Murray of the offer, Murray played his trump card to keep him. 'If you stay,' he said, 'I'll take you to the World Championships.' Evason was the only non-NHL player on Team Canada's roster, which included some generational NHL stars: Rob Blake, Owen Nolan, Keith Primeau, Chris Pronger, Mark Recchi, Geoff Sanderson and a 19-year-old Jarome Iginla. Not only was Evason on the team, but Murray named him captain. Advertisement 'He gave me so much responsibility. He trusted me,' Evason said. 'You could see where it could be a challenge, but Andy had my back in that area. Plus, I'd played in the league, right, and I was only one year removed. I played with a few of those guys, so there was a relationship. 'The transition wasn't terrible. It was pretty natural, actually. And obviously it was a tremendous honor.' Back then, the World Championships didn't have a medal round. The two top teams played a three-game series to determine the champion. Canada lost the first game to Sweden, then came back to win the final two. Evason scored the 1-0 goal in the deciding game. 'A little wraparound,' Evason said. 'I jammed a rebound in.' Evason said he was planning to start his coaching career the following season, but his play with Team Canada — throughout the season, but especially in the Worlds — helped extend his playing days. He had two offers in Germany and one in Japan, he said. He played two seasons in Germany before hanging up his skates. A gold medal-winning captain at the 1997 #MensWorlds, Dean Evason has brought a love for the game and a love of his country behind the Team Canada bench. 🇨🇦 WATCH THE FULL VIDEO ⏩ — Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) May 18, 2024 It was 13 seasons between Evason's Team Canada appearances as a player, first with World Juniors, then the World Championships. It took 27 more years before he was back in the fold in a different capacity. Evason, who had been fired by the Minnesota Wild in November 2023, was hired last spring by Team Canada to be an assistant coach. Who hired him? Rick Nash, who holds considerable sway in the Blue Jackets' front office, is currently the program's director of hockey operations. Advertisement Team Canada, with Evason on coach André Tourigny's staff, finished fourth in Czechia. But that experience left a mark. First, with the Blue Jackets. Nash played a big part in the Blue Jackets' coaching search last summer under new GM Don Waddell, and he had only good things to say about Evason, based on players who'd played under him in Minnesota and in the minors, but also on the first-hand knowledge he gained at the Worlds. The Blue Jackets hired Evason last July. His personality — driven and demanding, but with a capacity for people skills — worked wonders in a dressing room that was craving discipline and guidance. In turn, his performance with Columbus may have helped drive the point home with Team Canada. One day after the Blue Jackets' season ended, Salmond called. Evason's coaching staff will include Calgary coach Ryan Huska, Nashville coach Andrew Brunette and Blue Jackets assistant coach Steve McCarthy. Evason had already divvied up responsibilities before he left Columbus for Vienna on Tuesday. 'Brunette will run the power play and the (offensive zone) routes and sequences,' Evason said. 'Huska will run the penalty kill, the (zone) entries and faceoffs, and look after the centers. (McCarthy) runs the defense. We're still waiting on a goalie coach, but we're in the process of getting one.' Evason will have two of his players — 20-year-old center Adam Fantilli and 22-year-old winger Kent Johnson — with him, too. For both players, this will already be their fourth time representing Team Canada, including twice in the World Championships. Fantilli (31 goals) and Johnson (57 points) both had breakout seasons in Columbus. 'Just to see them play as they did throughout the season, but especially at the end of the season … how hard they played, how sound they played in some very important games,' Evason said. Advertisement 'The great thing here, with us getting to have this experience together, is that I can continue to coach them to play in the right way. Not just offensively, but to continue their growth as all-around players.' Evason said he's already made mental notes about how he'll get this team ready to compete in the World Championships, which means everything to European hockey fans but is often an afterthought in North America, even in a hockey-mad Canada. The fourth-place finish last season should provide fuel. 'No question, it's a motivating factor,' Evason said. To the Europeans, a lot of times, this is their Stanley Cup. They'll do anything to win, and that's the message that I'll be giving to the players early. 'The Latvian team will block shots with their faces in order to keep that thing out of the net. Their commitment, like the other clubs (in Europe), is very, very high. As NHL players, you're honored to be there … but you'd rather be in the Stanley Cup playoffs. 'So we have to find a way to dial it up. That's my job.'
New York Times
23-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason tabbed to lead Team Canada at World Championship
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Dean Evason, who coached the Columbus Blue Jackets to a surprisingly successful season in his first year with the club, has been named head coach of Team Canada in the upcoming IIHF World Championship in Sweden and Denmark. TSN's Darren Dreger was the first to report Evason's selection. The 60-year-old native of Flin Flon, Manitoba, served as an assistant coach last season for Team Canada, which finished fourth in the tournament. Two months later, he was hired by the Blue Jackets. Advertisement Evason said that he was still working with Team Canada to fill out the rest of the coaching staff. Dreger reported that Calgary coach Ryan Huska will be involved. The Blue Jackets are expected to announce in the coming days which players will represent their countries in the tournament, which runs May 9-25 in Stockholm, Sweden, and Herning, Denmark. Defenseman Zach Werenski will not play for Team USA, he said, citing a busy offseason, including his wedding. Under Evason, the Blue Jackets finished 40-33-9, their best record since the 2019-20 season. They were the last NHL club to be eliminated from the postseason, but when the season began, most expected Columbus to be, once again, a lottery team. Evason has been an NHL coach for parts of six seasons with the Minnesota Wild and Blue Jackets. He has a regular season record of 187-110-36, a .616 points percentage.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Wild Head Coach Named Canada Head Coach For Upcoming Men's World Hockey Championship
According to multiple reports, former Wild head coach Dean Evason will coach Team Canada for the upcoming Men's Hockey World Championships this summer. Evason coached the Columbus Blue Jackets (40-33-9) this season. They barely missed the playoffs after entering the year as a team that would not come close to the playoffs. They missed by two points. During his tenure with the Wild, Evason went 147-77-27 in 251 games and brought the team to the playoffs four times. The Wild fired Evason after a 5-10-4 start to the 2023-24 season. He was replaced by current Head Coach John Hynes, who finished 34-24-5 in his 63 games. The Wild missed the playoffs by 11 points. But followed it up in Hynes' first full season with a 45-30-7 and are currently in round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Stay updated with the most interesting Minnesota Wild stories, analysis, breaking news, and more!
New York Times
19-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Blue Jackets head into offseason with a mixture of frustration and optimism
COLUMBUS, Ohio — One message, but two different perspectives, because Don Waddell and Dean Evason have two different jobs. On Friday, the day after the Columbus Blue Jackets ended a memorable and unique season with a 6-1 win over the New York Islanders in Nationwide Arena, Waddell, the general manager, and Evason, the coach, met with the media to discuss what happened and what's ahead. Advertisement Evason knows full well that the Blue Jackets, which came one win short of making the playoffs, have a strong foundation and a bright future, but the frustration and anger of falling short were making all of that cloudy. Asked if the Jackets were 'further ahead' than he could have expected when he was hired by Columbus last summer, Evason said: 'Well, we're not far enough, because we're not (still) playing. We're not preparing to play (in the Stanley Cup playoffs), so I want to make that clear. I know we're going to get some accolades and all that kind of stuff. But at the end of the day, we're not in the playoffs. That was our first step, and we didn't get there. 'Are we happy with the foundation we're continuing to build? Sure. We're extremely positive. But there's negativity, too, because we're not playing tomorrow.' Meanwhile, Waddell is required to have a bigger-picture view. He was as grumpy as anybody last Wednesday when the Montreal Canadiens' win over his previous club, the Carolina Hurricanes, eliminated the Blue Jackets from the postseason after 81 games. The Blue Jackets were expected to spend the final months of the season tracking the NHL draft lottery odds, not doing playoff math. He highlighted the character of the veterans and other players in the room, saying, 'This was one of the strongest teams I've ever been involved with.' He also noted that so many of the Blue Jackets' blue-chip young players bloomed this season, driving the offensive outburst that kept the Jackets in the hunt. 'Our goal is always to make the playoffs,' Waddell said. 'When you make the playoffs, you don't want it to be a one-and-done situation. You want to make the playoffs, and then in a few years, we'll stop talking about making the playoffs and it'll be about winning the Cup. 'I truly believe, after what I witnessed this year, that we have most of the pieces in that locker room. There are going to be changes (this summer). There are unrestricted free agents and needs that we need to address. We'll do everything in our power to address those needs.' From GM Don Waddell and all of us to you, THANK YOU for showing up and cheering us on all season long ❤️ The countdown to our 25th anniversary season starts now! — Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 18, 2025 This was an educational season for Waddell. He was impressed with the Blue Jackets' stable of young players — especially the dynamic forwards — but a full season and ground level, closely observing this group of players on the ice and off the ice, will inform the moves he makes this summer. And there figures to be lots of moves, especially from the red line back. Advertisement The Blue Jackets set a franchise record with 267 goals this season, finishing eighth in the NHL. Most of the foundation up front is veterans in their prime or young players on the rise, so expect Waddell to, as he's said, 'fill in around the edges' up front. It's the defense and goaltending that could see the most changes. The Blue Jackets also allowed 267 goals, the eighth most in the league this season. Of the 16 clubs that qualified for the postseason, only one (Montreal, 261) allowed more than 240 goals. The Blue Jackets have six prominent unrestricted free agents: forwards Justin Danforth, Sean Kuraly and James van Riemsdyk, and defensemen Dante Fabbro, Jack Johnson and Ivan Provorov. Waddell said contract talks with the players they want to keep were put on hold during the season's stretch drive. 'I'll sit with the coaches in the next couple of days,' Waddell said. 'There are a few obvious ones we'd like to have back. We've talked about Provorov and Fabbro. There are some other guys we'd like to have back, but we haven't made those determinations yet. 'Not making the playoffs, we have some time here. We can study the market and say, 'If we don't sign this player, we can replace him with player X or Z. All of that will happen over the next 4 to 6 weeks.' Among defensemen, Fabbro and Provorov played top-four roles for the Blue Jackets this season, so losing either would be a big loss. Up front, Danforth and Kuraly played significant roles on the third and fourth lines and as penalty killers, while van Riemsdyk moved all over the line and finished with 16 goals. The roster spot that probably demands the most attention is goaltending. Elvis Merzlikins showed improvement for much of the season, but his game dipped dramatically in the final month of the season, just as the Blue Jackets were hanging in the race. In his final eight outings, including seven starts, he had an .865 save percentage and 4.24 goals-against average. Worse, there were on-ice temper tantrums that NHL goaltenders cannot exude. Advertisement Meanwhile, backup Daniil Tarasov earned no confidence with the coaching staff, going long stretches without games. It wasn't until the final week of the season, when Jet Greaves was recalled from AHL Cleveland, that goaltending became a position of strength. Greaves has a one-way NHL contract for next season, and his run of play would almost certainly give him a solid shot as the Blue Jackets' backup next season. But there is much to sort out here. Merzlikins has two years remaining on a contract that pays him $5.4 million per season. Tarasov is a restricted free agent, meaning the Blue Jackets would need to extend a qualifying offer this summer to maintain his rights. 'If we don't examine every position and dissect everything that we've done this year, we're not doing our jobs,' Waddell said. 'The goaltending numbers are not as good as we hoped they'd be. I said a while ago that I thought Elvis won us a lot more games than he lost us. We know there's a lot of talent there, but we're looking for more of a consistency factor. 'To say we're just staying with the status quo … maybe that's the way it ends up, but we have to examine this position like all of the positions and make decisions.' Waddell has all of the tools necessary to make significant upgrades via trades and free-agent signings. According to PuckPedia, the Blue Jackets will have a projected $41 million in salary cap space heading into the summer. The Blue Jackets also have two first-round draft picks, including the Minnesota Wild's first-round pick acquired last November in the deal that sent David Jiricek to the Wild. As of today, those two picks are 13th and 20th heading into the June draft. Waddell has shown a willingness to pursue other teams' restricted free agents via offer sheets, but they'd be slightly limited in what type of offer they could extend. Advertisement A restricted free agent lifted from another team's roster with an offer sheet requires draft-pick compensation, and the Blue Jackets do not own their second-round pick this coming draft. That was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers two summers ago for Provorov. Waddell was asked if he had the flexibility to buy out contracts of highly paid, underperforming players. Two leap to mind: Merzlikins ($5.4 million per season through 2026-27) and defenseman Damon Severson ($6.25 million per season through 2030-31), who was a healthy scratch 10 times this season. 'That's not something we're looking at,' Waddell said. 'I can't say how the summer is going to play out, but, as of now, we haven't talked about it.' However, one thing is clear. Waddell says he didn't come to Columbus to oversee a roster rebuild. He wants to win immediately. The Blue Jackets don't need sweeping changes to become competitive. Expect Waddell to be aggressive in helping them take another big step forward. 'There will be some challenges, but every summer there are deals to be made. It's just a matter of what pieces you're willing to give up for it,' he said. (Photo of Ivan Provorov: Ben Jackson / Getty Images)
