Dean Evason Introduces Himself to Columbus

COLUMBUS, OH

After a month of waiting and speculation, the Blue Jackets have finally announced the man to lead the franchise going forward, none other than former Minnesota Wild head coach Dean Evason.

Now, Evason spent the better part of the last five season in Minnesota, helping guide the team to postseason appearances in each of the last three as he hopes to do the same with the young and hungry Blue Jackets team.

The Blue Jackets held a press conference this morning at Nationwide Arena to unveil their new head coach, who took questions from the media alongside general manager and team president Don Waddell. Evason talked not only about the players and the core of the team, but also the city and community in the greater Columbus area, and how honored he was to be taking over as head coach.

If you ask him, Evason says there were many factors that led him to Columbus, as he could not stop raving about the opportunity to take this team to the next level this season.

“You know, I’ll be honest with you, everything was a selling point. The foundation is here, right? The core players are solid. The veteran guys, our character, we’ve got a little bit of everything” said Evason. “Some character, which you need on every hockey club, some size, some skill, some physicality. But yeah, young talent is a crucial part of it. Obviously, you want to have skilled players and you want to have young, passionate guys. You want to have old passionate guys too. But you want to have guys that can come in and play the game.”

He finished by saying “we believe in the organization that we have a young group of players that are coming in, that are going to be National Hockey League players for a long time, and help us win, not only in the future, but right now.”