Dan Bylsma

Early life

During high school, Bylsma excelled in golf, baseball, and ice hockey. He graduated from Western Michigan Christian High School, where he won the Class D golf individual championship as a freshman and played left field on the 1985 state championship baseball team. As a senior, he was named to the all-state all-class "Dream Team" and earned multiple regional baseball honors. Bylsma played amateur hockey in Muskegon, Norton Shores, and Grand Rapids before playing Junior B hockey in Canada for the St. Marys Lincolns and Oakville Blades.

He played college hockey at Bowling Green State University from 1988 to 1992, was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in his freshman year, and made the CCHA All Academic Team twice. He was a Bowling Green Scholar Athlete all four years, won the Jack Gregory Award for highest GPA on the team as a sophomore, and received the Howard Brown Coaches' Award as a senior. Bylsma is one of the few CCHA players to score a shorthanded goal while his team was two men short.

Professional playing career

Although drafted by the Winnipeg Jets, Bylsma never played for them and signed with the Los Angeles Kings in summer 1994. During the 1994–95 labor stoppage, he earned the nickname "Disco Dan" from teammates while playing for a minor league team in Phoenix, because veteran goaltender Byron Dafoe already used Bylsma's former moniker "Bysie" and Bylsma often danced in the locker room. He played parts of five seasons with the Kings as a defensive forward.

In his first season, he played only four NHL games but captained the Kings' IHL affiliate, the Phoenix Roadrunners. He also played for the Long Beach Ice Dogs after the Roadrunners folded. Bylsma appeared in 95 AHL games with six teams and reached the Calder Cup Finals in 1994. Signed as a free agent by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in summer 2000, he became an alternate captain and set a career high in points (17) in his second season.

He struggled to stay in the NHL due to limited offensive ability and injuries, including knee surgery that cost him 31 games. He retired after the 2003–04 season.

Coaching career

Bylsma began coaching as an assistant with the AHL's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks in 2004–05 and the NHL's New York Islanders in 2005–06. During the 2008–09 season, he coached the Penguins' AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. On February 15, 2009, with Pittsburgh struggling to make the playoffs, the Penguins fired Michel Therrien and promoted Bylsma to interim head coach. At 38, he became the youngest head coach in the NHL.

His 18–3–4 record through his first 25 games (40 points) was the second most in NHL history for a coach's first 25 games. On April 28, he was named permanent head coach, and on June 12, 2009, he led the Penguins to a Stanley Cup championship, becoming the 14th coach and second mid-season replacement to win the Cup in his first season. He was the fifth American-born coach to win the Cup. Bylsma won the Jack Adams Award for the 2010–11 season after the Penguins remained contenders without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

On April 22, 2013, he became the fastest NHL coach to reach 200 wins. On June 30, 2013, he was appointed head coach of the U.S. Olympic team for the 2014 Winter Olympics. On January 7, 2014, he became the winningest coach in Penguins history (233 wins). On April 4, 2014, he became the fastest to 250 wins (395 games).

On June 6, 2014, he was fired by the Penguins after Jim Rutherford became general manager. Bylsma remained on the Penguins' payroll through 2014–15, then was granted permission to seek other employment. On May 28, 2015, he was named head coach of the Buffalo Sabres on a five-year contract, after the team heavily pursued Mike Babcock before Babcock signed with Toronto.