Head Coach Dean Evason Makes His First Appearance On Columbus Radio

Dean Evason appeared on Rothman & Ice yesterday in what would be one of his first interviews since being hired as the new head coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets. 

He talked about a variety of things, but there was one thing he was asked about that stood out and could be considered a hot topic for people who follow the CBJ - Ice Time. 

Host Anthony Rothman asked Evason if ice time was going to be an "earn ice time, or a learn-by-doing-it in-game" situation. Evason said, "Well there's a little bit of both right? Obviously, if you've earned the right to be here, then now you have to earn your ice time. There's a lot of guys that say "I want to play on the power play, or I want to play on the penalty kill," well you can do that, just earn that right to do it. Make us put you in those situations, make us put you on the ice, because of what you do, not only in games but in practice, in the gym, how you conduct yourself, you earn the right to play. And again, it's not going to be given to players. And I think that's the nice thing about having the fresh start for not only myself but the coaching staff that we're going to work through to put together here, is that we have that opportunity to stress to the group that this is an earned situation, it's not a right. You don't have a right to play in every situation or different situations. You have to earn it. And if you do, then you'll play."

Very interesting comments from new coach Evason.

You can listen to the full interview below.

Fans who watched last season as some of the top rookies didn't get as much ice time, even after it seemed they deserved more, should hopefully get their wish this season. 

But of course, this does go both ways. Players who seemingly didn't deserve the ice time they got, were flooded with it. Is this the chance for some young guys to finally flourish?

Also, one other thing that struck me as I listened to this interview was the comment about his assistant coaches. He said, "The coaching staff that we're going to work through to put together here." Does this mean Steve McCarthy, Mark Recchi, Jared Boll, and Niklas Backstrom are officially on the hot seat? Last week, assistant coach Josef Boumedienne was told he wasn't returning, as his contract was expiring. 

The Dean Evason era is about to begin. 

 What do you think? Please share your thoughts on our forum.

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