Dean Evason calls out NHL superstar for 'diving.'

The act of diving is a highly controversial one in the sport of hockey, much more so I would argue than in the other major sports. Hockey fans have always had a particular distaste for diving and it's not uncommon to hear diving referred to as "soccer-like" behavior in hockey circles who hold no love for the practice.

On Friday, Minnesota Wild head coach Dean Evason outed himself as one of the many diving haters in the world of hockey when he called out an NHL superstar for engaging in that behavior. Evason, who was coming off of a close loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night, made Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar the target of his ire following the defeat.

Specifically, Evason called out Makar for diving and even went so far as to suggest that players were being instructed to do so given how common the practice was becoming.

"The penalties, first, it's hard, right?" asked a frustrated Evason. "Our sticks are there on a lot of the penalties but there's a lot of big men that fall down. Billy, we just talked about it. I don't get the diving anymore. I don't get it in today's game. It's a different game. So I guess I gotta stop thinking like that. We just talked about it. Guy gets boxed out and he falls on his back side. One of the biggest strongest guys, one of the best skaters in the world, falls down twice, too. Do we teach diving? You don't want to do that. Doesn't seem right for the game. So it's frustrating in that matter."

As I've already mentioned, Evason is hardly alone in his distaste of diving with a large contingent of of the NHL fan base also clearly against it. Unfortunately I would be surprised if his comments alone on this topic will have any far reaching impact as far as the NHL is concerned.