Dan Bylsma

Daniel Brian Bylsma[1] (/ˈbaɪlzmə/; born September 19, 1970) is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the former head coach of the Buffalo Sabres. He also is the former head coach of the United States men's national ice hockey team. Prior to coaching the Sabres, Bylsma was the head coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins, whom he led to a Stanley Cup championship in 2009, just four months after being promoted to Pittsburgh's head coaching position.

Dan Bylsma
Bylsma pictured during the Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 Stanley Cup championship parade
Born	(1970-09-19) September 19, 1970 Grand Haven, Michigan, U.S.
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
Position	Right Wing
Shot	Left
Played for	Los Angeles Kings Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
NHL Draft	109th overall, 1989 Winnipeg Jets
Playing career	1992–2004

Prior to coaching the Penguins, he played as a forward in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, and coached in the American Hockey League (AHL). He was drafted in the sixth round (109th overall) of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, by the Winnipeg Jets.

Early life

During his high school days, Bylsma was a standout in many sports, including golf, baseball, and ice hockey. Bylsma graduated from Western Michigan Christian High School where he won the Class D golf individual championship as a freshman. He also played baseball and was the starting left fielder as a freshman on Christian's 1985 State championship team. In his senior year, he was a member of the all-state all-class "Dream Team" (the best player at each position in the state – all classes), and won many regional baseball honors.

Bylsma played amateur hockey in Muskegon Junior Hockey, Norton Shores Recreational Leagues, and Grand Rapids GRAHA before playing Junior "B" hockey in Canada for the St. Marys Lincolns and the Oakville Blades of the Ontario Hockey Association. Bylsma went on to play college hockey at Bowling Green State University from 1988–1992 and was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in his freshman year. He was twice selected to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association All Academic Team and once earned Honorable Mention. He was a Bowling Green Scholar Athlete all four years and won the Jack Gregory Award for the highest grade point average on the team in his Sophomore season and the Howard Brown Coaches' Award for excellence in his senior year. Bylsma is one of the few players in the CCHA to have scored a shorthanded goal while his team was two men short.

Professional playing career

Despite being drafted by the Winnipeg Jets, Bylsma never played a game for them, and was signed by the Los Angeles Kings in the summer of 1994. During the 1994–95 labor stoppage, Bylsma earned the nickname "Disco Dan". The nickname was adopted by teammates while playing for a minor league team in Phoenix. Veteran goaltender Byron Dafoe already went by Bylsma's former moniker of "Bysie" so the name "Disco Dan" was given due to Bylsma's penchant for dancing in the locker room.[2]

He played parts of five seasons for the Kings, acting as a defensive forward. In his first season, when he played only four games for the Kings, he was captain of their International Hockey League (IHL) affiliate, the Phoenix Roadrunners. He also played for the Long Beach Ice Dogs, who were the Kings' IHL affiliate after the Roadrunners folded in 1997. Bylsma played 95 American Hockey League (AHL) games with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, the Lowell Lock Monsters, the Springfield Falcons, the Albany River Rats, the Moncton Hawks and the Rochester Americans, and reached the Calder Cup Finals in 1994.

Signed as a free agent by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the summer of 2000, Bylsma was a steadying influence on a rebuilding Anaheim team, and was made an alternate captain. In his second season, he set a career high in points (17).

Bylsma struggled his entire career to stay in the NHL, mostly due to a lack of natural offensive ability (his primary role in the NHL had always been penalty killing). Injuries took a toll in later years, and before being put on waivers in January 2004, Bylsma missed 31 games due to knee surgery. He retired from playing following the 2003–04 season.

Head Coach Dan Bylsma, Pittsburgh Penguins, Morning Skate in Raleigh, December 3, 2011.

Coaching career

Bylsma served as an assistant coach with the AHL's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (2004–05) and the NHL's New York Islanders (2005–06). During the 2008–09 season, Bylsma coached the Penguins' AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

On February 15, 2009, with the Pittsburgh Penguins struggling to make the playoffs, the Penguins organization announced that it had relieved head coach Michel Therrien of his duties and had promoted Bylsma to serve as interim head coach of the team.[3] At 38, he was the youngest head coach in the NHL at the time. Through his first 25 games as Penguins' coach, his 18–3–4 record amounted to 40 points—the second most of any coach in NHL history through their first 25 games.[4] On April 28, Penguins General Manager Ray Shero announced that Bylsma had been named permanent head coach of the team.[5] On June 12, 2009 Bylsma led the Pittsburgh Penguins to a Stanley Cup championship, becoming the 14th coach and the second mid-season replacement to win the Stanley Cup in their first season. While the win made him just the fifth ever American-born coach to win the cup, he also became the third American in the last five seasons to do so. Bylsma was awarded the Jack Adams Award as the league's most outstanding coach for the 2010–2011 season due to the Penguins still being a contender for the Stanley Cup without his two star players Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

On April 22, 2013, Bylsma became the fastest NHL coach ever[6] to reach 200 wins with a 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. On June 30 of the same year, Bylsma was appointed head coach of the United States Olympic Hockey Team for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. On January 7, 2014, a month before coaching at the Winter Olympics, Bylsma became the winningest coach in Penguins history (233 wins) with a 5-4 shootout victory over the Vancouver Canucks. On April 4, 2014, Dan Bylsma became the fastest NHL coach to reach 250 wins, leading his team to a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. He accomplished the feat in 395 games.[7] On June 6, 2014 he was fired by the Pittsburgh Penguins, shortly after Jim Rutherford was announced as the team's new general manager.[8]

He remained on the Penguins' payroll, with no job in the organization, through the 2014–15 season. Following that season, the Penguins granted him permission to seek employment elsewhere. On May 28, 2015, Bylsma was named head coach of the Buffalo Sabres, signing a five-year contract.[9] Bylsma was the Sabres second choice for coach after Mike Babcock, who they heavily pursued before Babcock signed with the divisional rival Toronto Maple Leafs.[10][11]

On April 20, 2017, Bylsma was released by the Buffalo Sabres.[12] The transaction came after rumors leaked that Bylsma was at odds with many of the Sabres players, including star Jack Eichel, who allegedly stated he would not sign a contract extension with the team had Bylsma remained head coach.[13][14][15] On June 22, 2018, Bylsma was hired as an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings.[16]

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1986–87	Oakville Blades	CJHL		10	4	9	13	21		—	—	—	—	—
1986–87	St. Marys Lincolns	WOHL		27	14	28	42	21		—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	St. Marys Lincolns	WOHL		40	30	39	69	33		8	8	18	26
1988–89	Bowling Green Falcons	CCHA		39	4	7	11	16		—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Bowling Green Falcons	CCHA		44	13	17	30	32		—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Bowling Green Falcons	CCHA		40	9	12	21	48		—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	Bowling Green Falcons	CCHA		34	11	14	25	24		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	Greensboro Monarchs	ECHL		60	25	35	60	66		1	0	1	1	10
1992–93	Rochester Americans	AHL		2	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Greensboro Monarchs	ECHL		25	14	16	30	52		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Albany River Rats	AHL		3	0	1	1	2		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Moncton Hawks	AHL		50	12	16	28	25		21	3	4	7	31
1994–95	Phoenix Roadrunners	IHL		81	19	23	42	41		9	4	4	8	4
1995–96	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		4	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Phoenix Roadrunners	IHL		78	22	20	42	48		4	1	0	1	2
1996–97	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		79	3	6	9	32		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		65	3	9	12	33		2	0	0	0	0
1997–98	Long Beach Ice Dogs	IHL		8	2	3	5	0		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		8	0	0	0	2		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Springfield Falcons	AHL		2	0	2	2	2		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Long Beach Ice Dogs	IHL		58	10	8	18	53		4	0	0	0	8
1999–2000	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		64	3	6	9	55		3	0	0	0	0
1999–2000	Long Beach Ice Dogs	IHL		6	0	3	3	2		—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	Lowell Lock Monsters	AHL		2	1	1	2	2		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	NHL		82	1	9	10	22		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	NHL		77	8	9	17	28		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	NHL		39	1	4	5	12		11	0	1	1	2
2003–04	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	NHL		11	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Cincinnati Mighty Ducks	AHL		36	3	3	6	53		8	1	1	2	4
IHL totals				231	53	57	110	144		17	5	4	9	14
NHL totals				429	19	43	62	184		16	0	1	1	2

Awards and records

• 2011– Jack Adams Award
• 2018- Raasch award winner

NHL coaching record

		Regular season						Post season
Team	Year	G	W	L	OTL	Pts	Finish	G	W	L	Result
PIT	2008–09	25	18	3	4	40 (99)^[1]	2nd in Atlantic	24	16	8	Won Stanley Cup (DET)
PIT	2009–10	82	47	28	7	101	2nd in Atlantic	13	7	6	Lost in Conference Semifinals (MTL)
PIT	2010–11	82	49	25	8	106	2nd in Atlantic	7	3	4	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals (TBL)
PIT	2011–12	82	51	25	6	108	2nd in Atlantic	6	2	4	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals (PHI)
PIT	2012–13	48^[2]	36	12	0	72	1st in Atlantic	15	8	7	Lost in Conference Finals (BOS)
PIT	2013–14	82	51	24	7	109	1st in Metropolitan	13	7	6	Lost in Second Round (NYR)
BUF	2015–16	82	35	36	11	81	7th in Atlantic	—	—	—	Missed playoffs
BUF	2016–17	82	33	37	12	78	8th in Atlantic	—	—	—	Missed playoffs
Total		565	320	190	55	695		78	43	35

• ¹ When Bylsma joined the Penguins after the 57th game of the season the team had earned 59 points. The team earned 40 points with Bylsma as head coach.
• ² Only 48 regular season games played due to lockout.

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 6, 2013. Retrieved August 25, 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. Anderson, Shelly (April 14, 2009). "NHL Playoffs: Bylsma's success reads like fish story". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
3. "Dan Bylsma Named Interim Head Coach of Pittsburgh Penguins". Pittsburgh Penguins. February 15, 2009. Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
4. Starkey, Joe (April 12, 2009). "The book on Penguins coach Bylsma". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Archived from the original on April 13, 2009.
5. Molinari, Dave (April 28, 2009). "Bylsma named Penguins head coach; he's no longer 'interim'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
6. , Pittsburgh Penguins at Ottawa Senators Game Recap 4/22/13
7. http://penguins.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/recap?id=2013021150
8. https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=454144
9. Yerdon, Joe (May 29, 2015). "Dan Bylsma hired as coach of Buffalo Sabres". NHL.com. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
10. "Reports: 'Livid' Sabres thought they had Babcock". Sportsnet. Rogers Communications. May 20, 2015. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
11. "Dan Bylsma to Sabres: Latest Contract Details, Comments and Reaction". Bleacher Report. Turner Broadcasting. May 28, 2015. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
12. "Tim Murray, Dan Bylsma fired by Sabres". NHL.com. NHL Enterprise, L.P. April 20, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
13. "Mike Harrington: Bylsma looking ahead but how much time does he have left?". The Buffalo News. Berkshire Hathaway. April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
14. "Report: Eichel won't sign extension if Bylsma remains coach". The Buffalo News. Berkshire Hathaway. April 19, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
15. "Sabres release GM Tim Murray, coach Dan Bylsma". ESPN. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
16. Kujawa, Kyle (June 22, 2018). "Red Wings hire Dan Bylsma as assistant coach". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved June 22, 2018.

External links

• Dan Bylsma career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database

Preceded by Todd Richards	Head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 2008–2009	Succeeded by Todd Reirden
Preceded by Michel Therrien	Head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins 2009–2014	Succeeded by Mike Johnston
Preceded by Dave Tippett	Jack Adams Award 2011	Succeeded by Ken Hitchcock
Preceded by Ted Nolan	Head coach of the Buffalo Sabres 2015–2017	Succeeded by Phil Housley