Reusse: Emotions high in Dean Evason’s return to Minnesota in Wild-Blue Jackets opener

Dean Evason provided a competitive enough product coaching the Wild for 251 regular-season games and three playoff appearances to get a place on the always-entertaining NHL coaching carousel.

A seven-game losing streak got him fired from the Wild last Nov. 27, with General Manager Bill Guerin deciding the briefly unemployed John Hynes might be the answer for a turnaround in fortunes.

This was NHL job No. 3 for Hynes, the early results were splendiferous, and then the Wild settled into the mediocrity required to miss the playoffs — a feat statistically as difficult as making them.

Don Waddell left Carolina to become the hockey boss in Columbus in late May and then hired Evason as the Blue Jackets’ new head coach on July 22. Not too long of a wait for Dean in the NHL head coaching spin-o-rama — eight months.

There was little chance for instant gratification with a team that was 16th out of 16 in the East last season and was going extremely young.

And then came tragedy: Johnny Gaudreau, 31, a dynamic scorer in Calgary a while back, a big personality who had come to Columbus as his free-agent choice two years earlier, was killed by a vehicle along with his younger brother Matt while riding bikes on a country road in south New Jersey.

The date was Aug. 29, and the day before the sister Katie Gaudreau would be getting married in Philadelphia.

When reporters bring this up with people who played with Johnny, or who knew the Gaudreaus as a family, or both, the pain comes out searing.

Sean Monahan was often a center to Gaudreau’s left wing, as they were teammates in Calgary for nine seasons.

Monahan had been in Montreal and Winnipeg for the past two years, then signed with Columbus on July 1 — the first day of free agency — with the express purpose of playing with Gaudreau.

On Thursday, the Blue Jackets and the Wild were opening their seasons at Xcel Energy Center, and Monahan talked briefly with reporters at the late-morning skate.

He talked hopefully about his young teammates, said he was amped for his 12th season opener, and then was asked: “How do you handle the sadness over Johnny Gaudreau?”

Monahan paused and said: “I don’t really know how I handle it. You just do. It’s something I think about all day.”

Boone Jenner, the Columbus captain, underwent shoulder surgery Wednesday and will miss six months. He was a potential linemate and Monahan said he would be “playing for Boone,” and then was asked if the same held true for Gaudreau.

“That’s a different situation,” Monahan said. “It’s a new season. He should be here. It’s always going to be tough. He was my best friend, and [playing together] was something we really were looking forward to.”

Evason was asked about the brief offseason time he was on the job and what chance he had to interact with Gaudreau. The new Columbus coach smiled at the memory and said:

“I had the opportunity when I first got the job. I said to Don Waddell, ‘I think it’s important that I meet with one player, and that’s Johnny Gaudreau — that he sees me and we get our relationship started.’ He said, ‘Absolutely. Book a flight.’

“So, I booked a flight to Philadelphia, called him, said, ‘I’m gonna have lunch.’ He had just got off the ice with his dad and came over. We ended up spending two hours together talking about the team.

“And that’s one thing I’ve taken away. … At no time did he mention wanting to play with this guy, wanting the power play to be this. All he talked about was the team, how he felt that this team could win and have success and he wanted to be part of it.

“He just wanted to play hockey and win in Columbus.’’

That was never going to be easy immediately.

And how about the coincidence when Evason checked the schedule and saw that his inexperienced squad would be opening in St. Paul?

“It’s crazy. … It’s amazing, and it’s not a secret that there’s more emotion for me personally in this hockey game,” Evason said. ”But the bottom line that I’m stressing to our group is that it’s us — it’s not me against the Minnesota Wild. It’s our hockey club against theirs.

“For me, there’s a lot of emotion, for sure. It’s no secret that I loved it here. I didn’t want to leave, but I’m happy where I’m at.”

And if things get as rough as expected for the Blue Jackets, well, the Buckeyes are rated No. 2 in the country, so there might not be the same laser focus on line combinations in Columbus that Dean faced in the State of Hockey.