A Flin Flon native will soon be back behind an NHL bench.
Former NHLer Dean Evason will be an assistant coach with the Minnesota Wild next season. The team announced Evason’s signing on June 6.
Evason was born in Flin Flon in 1964. After playing more than 800 games in the NHL, Evason began his coaching career in 1996, serving as a player-coach for the Canadian national team.
After a term as a player-coach with a team in Germany, he dropped the “player” portion of his title two seasons later, becoming the head coach of his one-time junior team, the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers.
Evason first joined an NHL bench in 2005, when he was named an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals, the team that drafted him back in 1982. He held the position for seven seasons.
For the past six seasons, Evason has been the head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League, leading them to five winning seasons and four playoff berths.
Evason’s new team will bring him closer to some familiar faces. The general manager of the Wild, Paul Fenton, is a former teammate of Evason.
Evason also spent time with head coach Bruce Boudreau and assistant coach Bob Woods as part of the Capitals’ coaching staff.
While Evason never suited up for the Flin Flon Bombers, he has a family connection to the team. His brother, Dan “Heavy” Evason, served as the Bombers’ director of hockey operations from 2000 to 2002 and was the executive director for the 2001 RBC Cup in Flin Flon. Both Dean and Heavy are members of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame.
