Article: Dean Evason's Firing Was About More Than Dean Evason

[Will D. Ness]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I just can't imagine that this is all about #97.

 

Minnesota fans and writers have some sort of fan PTSD due to all the Minnesota sports failures I think.  I don't think firing Evason has any thing to do with KK97 other than the fact that he didn't solve the 1st line.

This is like problem #15 in the list of problems with the team for which Evason was fired.

[Quebec1648]

This coaching change is bizarre. Guerin previously blamed the players for the poor team performance, and acted like the coaches were not the problem (or the answer), yet now he fires Evason? Hynes is the replacement?

I would not fire Evason, if the replacement is John Hynes. 

Guerin also downplayed the playoff futility and gave aging veterans contract extentions with no movement clauses. Why is Evason the fall guy? Evason has made mistakes, but if you want to fire someone, start with the front office.

The only thing I can think of, is that Guerin did a u turn on Evason, because he feared for his own job security. Maybe the owner said or did something, causing Guerin to make a desperation move. Evason should have been allowed more time, but I guess Bill Guerin was desperate.

[Pewterschmidt]

11 minutes ago, Quebec1648 said:

This coaching change is bizarre.

I agree. Why didn’t Dean get more runway after 2 100pt seasons.  Why the urgency to fire , unless it’s to scoop up a hot coach before someone else does.  Hynes was going to be available at end of season.  Does BG want to give him 1.75 seasons to prove himself before cutting him loose and letting 97 pick next coach along with contract extension.  Not saying Deans staff want a mess, but didn’t he earn more runway?

[mnfaninnc]

4 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Does BG want to give him 1.75 seasons to prove himself before cutting him loose and letting 97 pick next coach along with contract extension.  Not saying Deans staff want a mess, but didn’t he earn more runway?

I don't know that Dean did. It looked pretty obvious to me that the expiration date had come and gone. Hynes demands structure. They need structure. They need to practice. Showing up late to the puck drop is unacceptable. A new voice was needed. Hynes was available, there were no hot names out there.  It's that or interim from an internal source. I kind of wanted to see BG roaming the bench.

[Tom Gribalski]

I think it was time.

[Backwoodsbob]

To tell you the truth...I'm surprised that Dean made it this far. After they released Bruce, I figured Dean would only last a year or two.

 

[MNCountryLife]

Dean got fired because over the last 2 years he has been unable to fix the PK.  You can't play scared to take a penalty and a PK this bad puts too much pressure on the PP.  In the end... all bad and no capacity to fix got Dean fired.  Let's hope Hynes is better with the PK or things will look exactly the same.

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

I like the move of firing Dean. He was a decent reg season coach but was not made for the playoffs.

I am not yet on board for the Hynes hiring. He is unproven at best at it feels like more of Guerin's nepotism showing through again than hiring based on the best candidate available. We could have looked at Gallant or Quenneville but instead brought another unproven memory from Guerin's past. Quenneville had a .612 reg season win record and three cups to his name (but is . Gallant has a worse record in the reg season (.576) but more consistent winning in post season with .517 across his post season appearances. 

Hynes feels like a cop out and going back to the country club well. Run the team like a f*cking business already not a small town community association. BG hiring his buddies is what is putting us further into this mess and I doubt hiring more of them will get us out.

[Jamesgang]

Evason seems to have lost the faith of the players. He is a stubborn, old school coach who seemed hell bent on converting all players into gritty defenseman. Our most skilled offensive players were not allowed to flourish and use their natural talents.
Our kids were not given real opportunities to shine having been relegated to the 4th line checking roll until somehow, magically, they would show their offensive prowess and get elevated to the third line. Our prospect pipeline never seems to develop because of this development approach. It’s taken Rossi 1.5 years to finally get placed on a line that utilizes his talent. Evason would do the same thing with Yurov, Heidt and others until he chocked the offense out of them trying to turn them into defenseman. 
I like many things about Evason, but the game is much more about skill, speed and special teams these days. Dallas was not a gritty team and they mopped the floor with us last year. Same can be said about LV and Col. 

[Mateo3xm]

This isn’t in any way deans fault.

If anything it’s because the moronic owner won’t allow this team to do a proper rebuild.

Almost nobody wins retooling.

A retooling only works if you have highly talented players already and need to swap out a player or two to improve an area.

 

This team was never ever going to win anything being constructed the way it was.

They squeezed this team as hard as they could and got some success in the regular season but none in the postseason which is the most important time.

Whenever ppl bring up a rebuild during an interview with Guerin, he vehemently denies the team needs this.

This is because he knows the owner doesn’t make any money during this time and has instructed him since day one that they aren’t ever doing a rebuild.

 

We as fans are the ones that lose.

The state of hockey has no shot at winning a cup under this ownership/leadership and I wish more people realized this.

It’s all about money with this ownership.

What’s even worse is how many fans are oblivious to this.

 

During this cap hell, it would have been a perfect time to tank and get some high draft picks to fill organizational needs.

This organization is run very poorly and the heat should be on ppl who built this team not the coach and players.

 

If I was kaprizov I’d be out of here as soon as humanly possible.

I’d imagine that’s what he’s been thinking about for the last few months.

[Pewterschmidt]

18 minutes ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

I am not yet on board for the Hynes hiring. He is unproven at best at it feels like more of Guerin's nepotism showing through again than hiring based on the best candidate available. We could have looked at Gallant or Quenneville

I don't think we can assume that any of these proven coaches want this job more than the other options that will become available in off-season.  Too many question marks:  Dead cap handicap, how good is prospect pool pipeline, locked in apathetic old core, etc.  

[Mateo3xm]

14 hours ago, MacGyver said:

Yep Hynes is another Guerin buddy. A coaching change always seems to bring a spark regardless of who it is. Who knows how happy Kaprizov is or isn't here. I do know this. He has always been an elite player on an elite team and has always been on a winning path. This is a new experience for him and I doubt he is enjoying it. Kaprizov did not come over here to play for the Minnesota Wild. He had no choice in that he came over here to win a Stanley Cup and probably more than one. About the only thing not on his resume.  

I always felt this was a stepping stone for him and now that he is experiencing the losing culture my guess is he is already looking towards the exit. His agent is going to make negotiations very difficult either way. 

Teams will be coming to call you can bet on that but he would do himself a favor to get out of this funk and start carrying this team to keep his stock value up. 

I 100% agree with you on Kaprizov.

i think he’s out of here as soon as he can.

good for him too, this team will never win anything with the owner we have who refuses to do a proper rebuild.

[Mateo3xm]

14 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

What about his comment to Yurov: "I'm waiting for you?" That sounds like someone committed to the team. I think he wants it built into a juggernaut. 

I think you’re seeing something you want to see.

Even if every one of our prospects become nhl players we still wouldn’t ever become a juggernaut 

[Mateo3xm]

14 hours ago, Dean said:

You can’t build a juggernaut with 20 th overalls 

EXACTLY DEAN!!

I wish more ppl realized this

[Mateo3xm]

14 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

This is not true. However, it is much more difficult to do it that way.

It pretty much is true unless a miracle happens.

i can’t believe you don’t understand that.

it just blows me away.

[JJwild]

Bill needs to go, he over pays for aging players, over pays for mediocre goalies, dean was fired to take the heat off Bill, I do not like the new coach, predict the Wild will self implode and Hynes gets fired and leaves bawling like a baby. Dean should take Bill's job. Bye bye Bill.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

42 minutes ago, Mateo3xm said:

Even if every one of our prospects become nhl players we still wouldn’t ever become a juggernaut 

Come on now. Stramel is back playing and now has 1 goal in 8 games(zero assists). How would you not be expecting a juggernaut?🙄

[Willy the poor boy]

2 hours ago, Backwoodsbob said:

To tell you the truth...I'm surprised that Dean made it this far. After they released Bruce, I figured Dean would only last a year or two.

 

BG never wanted to keep Deano, Deano just gave him no choice until now. It's why the interim tag and extension for DE came so late.

IMO, they fired the wrong guy, but Guerin's job was never in jeopardy. DE was the fall guy to take the heat off Guerin for awhile. Evason will land on his feet. Someone ill see his value and give him another chance. Hopefully that team will have a good GM and get him the players he needs to be successful.

[Up North Guy]

14 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

If the scoring doesn't come early, I'd suggest making good use of the time and start dropping the mitts! A total meltdown game isn't out of realm of possibilities. It will loosen everyone up. And, we've got crazy eyes who can lead us!

Let's go full Slap Shot! Might as well make some great memories.

[Up North Guy]

13 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I don't know that Dean did. It looked pretty obvious to me that the expiration date had come and gone. Hynes demands structure. They need structure. They need to practice. Showing up late to the puck drop is unacceptable. A new voice was needed. Hynes was available, there were no hot names out there.  It's that or interim from an internal source. I kind of wanted to see BG roaming the bench.

Exactly this

[Up North Guy]

1 hour ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

We could have looked at Gallant or Quenneville but instead brought another unproven memory from Guerin's past

Gallant does nothing for me. He can't keep a job when he is successful. I would not touch Quenneville with a ten foot pole with a giant condom on it. He is flat out an asshole. Just ask Modano about him.

[FredJohnson]

I've been harping on about Deano needing to change or he'd get fired. It's too bad that he was fired because it's not all his fault (only mostly his fault). The players have not been up to snuff. We'll see how much of it was due to Deano. Unfortunately, this about the only thing that could be done due to the roster construction.

 

Winners: young guys and new lineups.

Losers: veterans (especially Freddie Hockey 😢)

[FredJohnson]

54 minutes ago, Up North Guy said:

I would not touch Quenneville with a ten foot pole with a giant condom on it.

He might like you to, though. 😳

[mnfaninnc]

2 hours ago, Mateo3xm said:

It pretty much is true unless a miracle happens.

i can’t believe you don’t understand that.

it just blows me away.

I'll concede that it is the easiest way to do it, but it isn't true that it's the only way. You can draft in the 20s and be successful, you just have to hit on much more than average. Much more than average.

[FredJohnson]

4 hours ago, Backwoodsbob said:

To tell you the truth...I'm surprised that Dean made it this far. After they released Bruce, I figured Dean would only last a year or two.

 

Ditto! We won just enough that the interim tag was pulled from Deanos' title.