What’s better than a goalie fight? A coach fight, of course.
Late in the penultimate game of the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets’ respective regular seasons, Wild coach Dean Evason sent Ryan Reaves onto the ice to do what Reaves had been doing all game: Instigate.
Reaves, who had been looking for a fight all night and had already trading roughing penalties with Nino Niederreiter, finally got the tussle he was looking for at the 19:24 mark of the third period with Adam Lowry.
Ryan Reaves has had enough. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/d2RavGtpte
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 12, 2023
Jets coach Rick Bowness clearly took issue with Reaves getting sent back onto the ice and participating in what clearly amounted to a scripted fight, and he made his feelings known to Evason, who responded in a muted — and terrifying — way.
Dean Evason’s reaction to Rick Bowness challenging him to a fight is priceless pic.twitter.com/9u5eQmKTj3
— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) April 12, 2023
Evason doesn’t look ready for smoke. He looks ready to strike a match after Bowness indicated he’s too small.
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An important note: Rick Bowness is listed at 6 feet 1 inch on Hockey Reference. Evason is listed at 5 feet 10 inches. So the difference isn’t really that expansive. However, the 6 foot threshold is the 6 foot threshold.
At the end of the 3-1 loss, Evason seemed fine with fighting but less fine with the other extracurriculars.
“We want to play hard, we want to play right, we don’t want to play like that,” he told reporters. “It’s just s– It’s stupid at the end. Like what for? What for? Like play hard but, you know, if you wanna fight then fight. But all the cheap s– stuff … Our group will fight if they wanna fight.”
“It’s frustrating.”
🗣️ Evason reacts to the final period in tonight’s game. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/V4reakZkju
— x – Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 12, 2023
Bowness took a slightly different stance and focused more on platitudes.
As for Bowness, he was less than pleased but focused on his own locker room.
“They all know what was going on, they saw what the coach was doing out there,” he told reporters. “And our guys responded. And listen that’s a tough job. You gotta stand up there and battle like that. So our players again, there’s a good feeling in that room.”
Unfortunately, Wild-Jets will not be a first-round matchup. In fact, the No. 3 Wild and second wild card Jets would have to make the Western Conference Finals to see each other. It’s a shame, really. It would be incredible to see one of these coaches jump the glass.