COLUMBUS, Ohio \u2014 Dean Evason never saw it coming.<\/p>\n
On Monday, an off day for the Columbus Blue Jackets after flying back from Salt Lake City the night before, Evason was summoned to Nationwide Arena via text message by general manager Don Waddell.<\/p>\n
\u201cI walked in, and (assistant coach) Steve McCarthy was there,\u201d Evason told The Athletic. \u201cI said, \u2018What are you doing here?\u2019 Don had texted him, too. I met with Don in my office, and he told me the news. Told me I was fired.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was blindsided. Yeah, of course. Usually, when you go through this as a coach, you can feel it coming. But I\u2019ll be honest with you: I didn\u2019t. (Waddell) talked to me, then he talked to Steve, and it was time to pack our s\u2014 and get out of Dodge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evason, who had been on the job for barely 1 1\/2 seasons, was replaced by veteran coach Rick Bowness, who has guided the Blue Jackets to wins in his first two games heading into Saturday\u2019s matchup in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
It was the first head coach firing in the NHL this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, do you take it personally?\u201d Evason said. \u201cYou have to, a little bit. But you have to be accountable, too. I get that we lost leads in the third period, and that was frustrating for everybody.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut without sounding like a whiny or petty little whatever, I don\u2019t think (the firing) should have happened. I think it was too soon, and I think there was more to it than losing leads in the third period. What that is, I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Blue Jackets lost 26 games this season under Evason\u2019s watch, 19 in regulation and seven in overtime or a shootout. In nine of those losses, they held a lead in the third period.<\/p>\n
In a tightly-packed Eastern Conference \u2014 the Blue Jackets are 15th in the conference, but only 7 points behind a wild-card spot before Friday\u2019s games \u2014 it\u2019s easy to see how devastating those lost points have been.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were as upset by the (third-period collapses) as anybody,\u201d Evason said. \u201cWe were trying to figure it out. We changed our forecheck. We changed our neutral zone. In the defensive zone, we talked constantly about the end of games and being on the right side of the puck, take care of that good ice and protecting the house.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe worked on it and worked on it. For whatever reason, a different situation would happen. It was really eerie, to be honest with you. Were we tired in the third period? Maybe. When you get physically tired, you\u2019re mentally tired. Maybe with the lack of practice time (due to the compacted schedule), we needed to be in the gym more.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Blue Jackets have relieved Dean Evason of his head coaching duties.<\/p>\n
Rick Bowness, who retired from coaching after the 2023-24 season, has been hired as his replacement \ud83d\udc40 pic.twitter.com\/Id1ju7niRo<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Evason signed a three-year contract with the Blue Jackets in the summer of 2024. The deal included a club option for a fourth year. Without getting into details, Evason said the two sides are working out the specifics of his departure.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the second time Evason has been fired in the NHL. The Minnesota Wild fired him on Nov. 27, 2023, after a slow start to the season. He was also fired once as a coach in the Western Hockey League.<\/p>\n \u201cYou start thinking about all these things now, and I keep writing stuff down in my phone,\u201d Evason said. \u201cI\u2019ve got a whole page of notes, just everything I would do differently and everything I would change.<\/p>\n \u201cYou go to bed with a clear mind and everything\u2019s good, and then you wake up at 3 in the morning and all of a sudden your brain just starts spinning. \u2018Jeez, I should have done this. I should have done that. Why did this happen? I\u2019m pissed off at this guy! This guy\u2019s pissed off at me!\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to work through this process, which is why I didn\u2019t want to talk right away. I didn\u2019t want to say anything stupid or anything out of anger because there\u2019s no reason for me to be angry. I can be as upset as I want, and I can disbelieve if I want, but I can\u2019t do anything about the decision. It was not my choice.\u201d<\/p>\n Even as the Blue Jackets lagged in the standings and suffered frustrating losses, the conventional wisdom was that Evason may get the rest of this season to turn around the Blue Jackets. Or, perhaps, he\u2019d at least get to the NHL\u2019s Olympic break next month.<\/p>\n But Waddell made it clear Tuesday that he didn\u2019t think the Blue Jackets could wait. The ball started rolling on Evason\u2019s firing, he said, when the Jackets blew a 4-1 lead and lost 5-4 in overtime to Pittsburgh on Jan. 4 in Nationwide.<\/p>\n It was such an abrupt end to Evason\u2019s run in Columbus, one that started on such an impressive and inspirational note.<\/p>\n He was hired on July 22, 2024. One month and one week later \u2014 just three weeks before training camp was to start \u2014 Blue Jackets star winger Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, were killed by an alleged drunk driver in New Jersey.<\/p>\n Evason implored the Blue Jackets to grieve, both individually and collectively, and he made the Blue Jackets dressing room an appropriate place for all of the feelings that grief can bring to the surface.<\/p>\n \u201cSo many people came through during that time,\u201d Evason said. \u201cIt was a very emotional time, and I think, as an organization, we did a phenomenal job. It was the entire staff, but I\u2019m proud of my part in that, too. I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about other people, too.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first time I met (Sean) Monahan was the night of the vigil. I actually walked into the dressing room, and there he was, standing in front of Johnny\u2019s locker, all by himself, just bawling. I went over to him, and we hugged and cried.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first time I met (Erik) Gudbranson, I shook his hand, and we looked at each other and just started crying. It was that close to the surface, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n Every player in the dressing room had two hands on the rope last season, and the Blue Jackets surprised the NHL by missing the playoffs by only 2 points. More was expected this season, but that emotion and camaraderie have been difficult to match, Evason said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a letdown this season,\u201d Evason said. \u201cThat, combined with the fact that we weren\u2019t sneaking up on anybody \u2026 we also had a bunch of guys have career years.\u201d<\/p>\n The Athletic: New #CBJ<\/a> coach Rick Bowness sees glaring areas where he can fix struggling Blue Jackets<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re on your heels in this league, man, you\u2019re going to get burnt. We gotta get nastier. We have to have a little more structure and pressure.\u201dhttps:\/\/t.co\/4wkN1PbJuw<\/a><\/p>\n