Dean Evason
Evason in 2012
Born (1964-08-22) August 22, 1964 (age 59)
Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Right
Played for Washington Capitals
Hartford Whalers
San Jose Sharks
Dallas Stars
Calgary Flames
EV Zug
EV Landshut
Coached for Minnesota Wild
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 89th overall, 1982
Washington Capitals
Playing career 1983–1999
Coaching career 1999–present

Dean Clement Evason (born August 22, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He most recently served as head coach of the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). Evason was selected by the Washington Capitals in the fifth round (89th overall) of the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. Evason was born in Flin Flon, Manitoba, but grew up in Brandon, Manitoba.

Playing career

Selected by the Capitals in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft, Evason played in the NHL from 1983 to 1996 for the Capitals, Hartford Whalers, San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, and Calgary Flames. He was most successful as a member of the Hartford Whalers, where he compiled career highs with the team with 87 goals and 165 assists for a total of 261 points. Evason was a 20-goal scorer twice with Hartford, and was well known for his ability to get the puck to other players for goals during difficult situations on the ice.

Evason also played in Switzerland, for the Canadian National Team, and in the German Hockey League before retiring as an active player. In 803 NHL games, playing primarily as a defensive-minded forward, he had 139 goals and 233 assists.

International play

Medal record
Representing Canada Canada
Men's ice hockey
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1997 Finland

Evason first played for Canada at the 1984 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships while in the midst of a terrific campaign for the Kamloops Junior Oilers. His selection to the squad was somewhat of a surprise,[1] but he proved to be a productive player, recording six goals and nine points in seven games for the fourth-place Canadian squad.[2] The Canadians narrowly missed out on a medal to the third-place Czechoslovakian team, losing 6-4 in their match against them that decided the medals. It would be thirteen additional years before Evason was again selected to represent his country.

His final opportunity occurred in 1997 when Canadian national team coach Andy Murray offered him a spot on the roster and the captaincy in exchange for playing a full season for the national team, which was then together for ten months per year.[1] Evason was the only non-NHL player on the Canadian roster that went on to win their first World Championships in three years, beating Sweden in the finals, while scoring two goals and adding three assists during the tournament.[3]

Coaching career

Prior to joining the Capitals as an assistant coach, Evason spent many years in the Western Hockey League in various coaching capacities, starting in 1999 as an assistant with the Calgary Hitmen. He then became the head coach of the Kamloops Blazers from 1999 to 2002 and the Vancouver Giants from 2002 to 2004. He returned to the Hitmen for the 2004–05 season as a co-coach.

In 2005, he was hired by the Washington Capitals as an assistant coach. In 2012, he was hired by the Milwaukee Admirals as head coach, where he served for six seasons to become the team's second winningest coach in their history. In 2018, he was hired by the Minnesota Wild as an assistant coach.[4] On February 14, 2020, Evason was named interim head coach of the Wild.[5]

On July 13, 2020, the Wild dropped the "interim" tag from Evason's title and named him the fifth full-time head coach in franchise history.[6]

After parts of five seasons with the team, the Wild fired Evason on November 27, 2023, after a 5–10–4 start capped by a seven-game losing streak.[7][8]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1980–81 Cowichan Valley Capitals BCJHL 50 20 51 71 39 — — — — —
1980–81 Spokane Chiefs WHL 3 1 1 2 0 — — — — —
1981–82 Spokane Chiefs WHL 26 8 14 22 65 — — — — —
1981–82 Kamloops Junior Oilers WHL 44 21 55 76 47 4 2 1 3 0
1982–83 Kamloops Junior Oilers WHL 70 71 93 164 102 7 5 7 12 18
1983–84 Kamloops Junior Oilers WHL 57 49 88 137 89 17 21 20 41 33
1983–84 Washington Capitals NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1984–85 Washington Capitals NHL 15 3 4 7 2 — — — — —
1984–85 Hartford Whalers NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1984–85 Binghamton Whalers AHL 65 27 49 76 38 8 3 5 8 9
1985–86 Hartford Whalers NHL 55 20 28 48 65 10 1 4 5 10
1985–86 Binghamton Whalers AHL 26 9 17 26 29 — — — — —
1986–87 Hartford Whalers NHL 80 22 37 59 67 5 3 2 5 35
1987–88 Hartford Whalers NHL 77 10 18 28 115 6 1 1 2 2
1988–89 Hartford Whalers NHL 67 11 17 28 60 4 1 2 3 10
1989–90 Hartford Whalers NHL 78 18 25 43 138 7 2 2 4 22
1990–91 Hartford Whalers NHL 75 6 23 29 170 6 0 4 4 29
1991–92 San Jose Sharks NHL 74 11 15 26 99 — — — — —
1992–93 San Jose Sharks NHL 84 12 19 31 132 — — — — —
1993–94 Dallas Stars NHL 80 11 33 44 66 9 0 2 2 12
1994–95 Dallas Stars NHL 47 8 7 15 48 5 1 2 3 12
1995–96 Calgary Flames NHL 67 7 7 14 38 3 0 1 1 0
1996–97 EV Zug NLA 3 0 1 1 2 4 0 2 2 4
1997–98 EV Landshut DEL 42 8 22 30 38 6 0 3 3 18
1998–99 EV Landshut DEL 45 13 25 38 76 3 0 1 1 2
NHL totals 803 139 233 372 1,000 55 9 20 29 132

Head coaching record

WHL

Team Year Regular season Postseason
G W L OTL SOL Pts Finish W L Win% Result
KAM 1999–00 72 36 30 5 1 78 4th in West 0 4 .000 Lost in First Round (SEA)
KAM 2000–01 72 35 28 7 2 79 3rd in West 0 4 .000 Lost in First Round (SPK)
KAM 2001–02 72 38 25 5 4 85 1st in B.C. 0 4 .000 Lost in First Round (KEL)
KAM 2002–03 72 39 27 5 1 84 2nd in B.C. 2 4 .333 Lost in First Round (KOO)
KAM 2003–04 72 34 28 8 2 78 3rd in B.C. 1 4 .200 Lost in First Round (VAN)
CGY 2004–05 72 34 23 9 6 83 3rd in Central 7 4 .636 Lost in Second Round (BDN)
Total 432 216 161 39 16 487   10 24 .294 6 playoff appearances

AHL

Team Year Regular season Postseason
G W L OTL SOL Pts Finish W L Win% Result
MIL 2012–13 76 41 28 4 3 89 2nd in Midwest 1 3 .250 Lost in First Round (TEX)
MIL 2013–14 76 39 24 6 7 91 3rd in Midwest 0 3 .000 Lost in First Round (TOR)
MIL 2014–15 76 33 28 8 7 81 5th in Midwest - - - Did not qualify
MIL 2015–16 76 48 23 3 2 101 1st in Central 0 3 .000 Lost in First Round (GR)
MIL 2016–17 76 43 26 4 3 95 3rd in Central 0 3 .000 Lost in First Round (GR)
MIL 2017–18 76 38 32 4 2 82 6th in Central - - - Did not qualify
Total 456 242 161 29 24 539   1 12 .077 4 playoff appearances

NHL

Team Year Regular season Postseason
G W L OTL Pts Finish W L Win% Result
MIN 2019–20 12* 8 4 0 (16) 6th in Central 1 3 .250 Lost in Qualifying Round (VAN)
MIN 2020–21 56 35 16 5 75 3rd in West 3 4 .429 Lost in First Round (VGK)
MIN 2021–22 82 53 22 7 113 2nd in Central 2 4 .333 Lost in First Round (STL)
MIN 2022–23 82 46 25 11 103 3rd in Central 2 4 .333 Lost in First Round (DAL)
MIN 2023–24 19 5 10 4 (14) (fired) — — — —
Total 251 147 77 27     8 15 .348 4 playoff appearances

Awards and achievements

References

  1. ^ a b Joyce, Gare, ed. Hockey Canada: Thirty Years of Going for Gold at the World Juniors. Toronto ON: Penguin Group (Canada), 2011. 18-21. Print.
  2. ^ "Elite Prospects - WJC-20 Stats 1983-1984". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  3. ^ "Elite Prospects - WC Stats 1996-1997". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  4. ^ "Dean Evason Hired by Minnesota Wild as Assistant Coach". OurSportsCentral.com. June 6, 2018.
  5. ^ "Wild names Dean Evason Interim Head Coach". NHL.com. February 14, 2020. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  6. ^ "Wild names Dean Evason full-time head coach". NHL.com. July 13, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  7. ^ "Head Coach Dean Evason and Assistant Coach Bob Woods Relieved of Duties". NHL.com. November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  8. ^ "Evason fired as Wild coach, no replacement named". NHL.com. November 27, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.

External links

Sporting positions Preceded byIan Herbers Head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals 2012–2018 Succeeded byKarl Taylor Preceded byBruce Boudreau Head coach of the Minnesota Wild 2020–2023 Succeeded byJohn Hynes
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