Evason Moves Up to NHL

Milwaukee, WI—The Admirals announced today that Dean Evason has been hired by the Minnesota Wild as an assistant coach.

Evason spent six seasons with the Admirals and leaves as the team’s all-time winningest coach during their time in the AHL and second in the franchise’s 40-year history. The Flin Flon, MB native accumulated a 242-161-29-24 record in that time, good for an impressive .600 winning percentage. Milwaukee finished with at least 80 points in all six of his seasons, cracking the 90-point barrier three times with a high-water mark of 101 points in 2015-16 when the Ads won the Central Division title.

“We would like to thank Dean Evason for his contributions to the Milwaukee Admirals and Nashville Predators over the past six seasons and wish him the best of luck as he enters the next chapter of his career in Minnesota,” Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile said. “That said, we look forward to speaking with candidates both within the organization and externally as we begin our search for Milwaukee’s new head coach, which will start immediately.”

In addition to his success on the ice, Evason oversaw the promotion of 43 different players to the Predators during his time with the Ads, including 15 who were on Nashville’s President’s Cup winning club this season. Amongst those player are Filip Forsberg, who led the Preds in scoring last season, Viktor Arvidson, Kevin Fiala, Mattias Ekholm, Calle Jarnkrok, Ryan Ellis, Colton Sissons Austin Watson, and Juuse Saros.

“We are very happy for Dean and wish him nothing but the best of luck as he moves back to the NHL,” said Admirals Owner/CEO Harris Turer. “The road to the NHL goes through Milwaukee is true for both players and coaches as well. We are lucky to have had a person of Dean’s character to help mold our players and show them how to be a professional both on and off the ice.”

Evason becomes the seventh Admirals coach in the past 13 seasons to move on to the National Hockey League coaching ranks, joining Claude Noel, Todd Richards, Brad Lauer, Lane Lambert, Kirk Muller, and Ian Herbers. Noel, Richards, and Muller all held head coaching positions in the NHL, while Lambert is an assistant with the Washington Capitals who are one game away from capturing the Stanley Cup Title.

The Admirals 2018-19 schedule will be released later this summer, the Admirals do know that they will play their home opener on Saturday, October 13 at 6 pm at Panther Arena.

Season tickets for the 2018-19 campaign are on sale and start for as little as $135. For more information on season tickets fans should call the Admirals office at 414-227-0550 or log on to www.milwaukeeadmirals.com.

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