The final coachless team in the NHL has their man the Columbus Blue Jackets named Dean Evason their 12th coach in franchise history.
Evason steps in to take the reigns from Pascal Vincent, who was named their head coach in Sept. 2023, taking over from Mike Babcock, who resigned from the team.
The 59-year-old Evanson has edged out former Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft for the role, bringing with him a wealth of hockey experience. He got his start in coaching in 1998 with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen as an assistant coach, spending one year there before stints as the head coach of the Kamloops Blazers and later, the Vancouver Giants, before returning to Cowtown as the bench boss for the 2004-05 season.
When the lockout ended, he then moved to the NHL as an assistant coach of the Washington Capitals, holding the role for seven years, before being hired as the head coach of the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. He remained there from 2012-13 through the 2017-18 campaign, before returning to the NHL with the Minnesota Wild as their head coach in 2018-19, promoted a year and a half later to their head coach.
Evason was let go as the head coach of the Wild last November, but has landed back on his feet.
“Dean Evason brings to coaching what he brought as a player – passion, hard work and tenacity – and I couldn’t be happier that he will serve as the next head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets,” said Blue Jackets president and general manager Don Waddell in a statement. “He has spent well over two decades in this league as a player, assistant coach and head coach and I believe that experience, combined with the outstanding person he is, will allow Dean to get the best out of our players and put us in a position to succeed as a team.”
Evason, as well as Woodcroft, interviewed for the role last week in person.
Flames unveil arena plans
Ground has officially broken on the Calgary Flames’ new arena, set to be named Scotia Place, and details of it were revealed Monday.
It’s set to be built on 10 acres just north of where the Saddledome is located in downtown Calgary, and is scheduled to open ahead of the 2027-28 season. Designed by HOK and Dialog, the building will have primary enterances on the northwest and southwest ends.
Here’s some details from Flamesnation’s Ryan Pike, and a few renditions of the buildings exterior:
We’re in the process of digging into the detailed plans, but here are our takeaways from what we saw and heard:
- The design team worked in consultation with an indigenous advisory group, and tried to work in tie-ins to nature into the design – the main elements were fire, ice, earth and air. Fire and ice were the most prominent in the design presentation.
- CSEC wanted an intimate space, so the seating concept is a bit steeper and stacked on top of each other than, say, Rogers Place, which HOK also designed.
- There’s a lot of exterior glass on the outside, primarily on the north, west and south sides. The east side, which is primarily the parking access point, will have murals designed by indigenous artists as a way to integrate that side into the area.
- On the north side, the historic Stephenson & Co. Grocers building will be integrated into the exterior facade.
- The practice rink is actually below ground, on the event level, and on the street level on top of the practice rink footprint will be some small playing fields.
Credit: City of Calgary
Credit: City of Calgary
Credit: City of Calgary
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
