Dean Evason seeking revenge in return to Minnesota: 'They just fired me last year'

Dean Evason was the fiery head coach of the Minnesota Wild before he was fired last November, and as the hockey gods would have it his debut as the new head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets will come Oct. 10 against his former team in his former city.

Asked Wednesday during his introductory press conference with Blue Jackets media if the season opener in St. Paul has him gnashing his teeth, Evason admitted he's thirsty for revenge.

"You know what I dislike is when ex-coaches go in and say 'oh this game means nothing to me.' That's such bull. Of course it means something to you. I mean, right? They just fired me last year. Of course it means something," Evason snarled.

"Do we want to win any more than we want to win game two? No. You want to win every game, but does it mean something? Yeah, absolutely. Fortunately or unfortunately I can't put skates on anymore so we will do our best to get the team prepared to play that game one and definitely get off on the right foot."

Evason led the Wild to a 147-77-27 record and two playoff appearances, though they were dispatched from postseason play in the first round both times.

"Yeah, we were in the playoffs in Minnesota a lot. We didn't have success. That's what we're building towards," Evason said. "We want to get there and then we want to take that next step. You learn from all the situations you've been in."

Evason's 40-minute press conference included some humor when he talked about coaching Kirill Kaprizov in Minnesota and superstar Alexander Ovechkin in D.C.

"You can't teach Kirill Kaprizov like Alexander Ovechkin, although I taught both of them everything they know," Evason quipped. "I'm pretty good with Russians, clearly. Especially Ovi's shot, I worked a lot on that."