Image Credit: NHL.com

By Chad Klassen

DEAN EVASON

Former Kamloops junior head coach, player gets first opportunity as NHL head coach

Feb 14, 2020 | 9:23 AM

ST. PAUL, MN — Former Kamloops Junior Oiler standout Dean Evason is the new head coach of the Minnesota Wild.

Evason was named interim coach on Friday morning (Feb. 14) after Wild general manager Bill Guerin fired Bruce Boudreau.

The firing comes after Minnesota blew a 3-1 lead on Thursday against the New York Rangers before losing in a shootout.

It’s Evason’s first opportunity to be an NHL head coach after years as an assistant. The 55-year-old native of Flin Flon, Manitoba got his first chance to be a head coach with the Kamloops Blazers from 1999 to 2002, lasting three seasons.

Evason jumped to the NHL in 2005, serving as an assistant coach in Washington for seven seasons, serving under Boudreau for parts of five seasons. He spent six years as head coach of Nashville’s AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, before re-joining Boudreau in Minnesota.

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As Junior Oiler, Evason scored 141 goals and 236 assists in 171 games in Kamloops over two and a half seasons.