By Ron Rop
LocalSportsJournal.com

THOUSAND PALMS, CA–Dan Bylsma’s hockey career has taken him from the East to the West, to the top of the hockey world and back again. He toiled in the minors of hockey, played in the National Hockey League, coached in the NHL, hoisted the coveted Stanley Cup, coached Team USA in the Olympics and is now teaching NHL prospects the finer points of the game.

Bylsma, a native of Grand Haven and graduate of Western Michigan Christian High School, is the head coach of a brand new franchise in the American Hockey League … the Coachella Valley Firebirds. In case, you’re wondering where that’s at, it’s in Southern California in Thousand Palms, Calif. They are owned and operated by the NHL’s Seattle Kraken, the NHL’s newest franchise.

“It’s exciting, it’s not an opportunity that comes around very often in pro hockey where you get to start a new franchise and do it from the ground up,” Bylsma said. “It’s an organization (Seattle) that is 2 years old. It’s not so much that there are a ton of players in the system and then you get the drafted players and the players for Seattle who are turning pro. We’re an expansion team through and through. We’re getting players from the expansion draft the previous year from the Kraken and some of those players were in Charlotte last year where I coached.”

Nearly everything is brand new about the franchise. There are new players, new front office personnel and even a new rink that opened just this season. There also are new fans, some who know the game of hockey and others who are new to the game.

“The fans have been great right from the time we stepped off the plane coming from Seattle in early November,” said Bylsma, whose team played two games in Seattle’s practice rink with a capacity of about 500. “The desert has been a welcoming place. There has been a lot of buzz and a lot of energy. The fans have turned out. Every game has felt like a sell out to us.”

Despite the fact the franchise is in its infancy, the Firebirds have been highly successful right out of the gate. Through March 4, the Firebirds were among the league leaders in points, with games in hand on the league’s other top teams, and No. 1 in winning percentage (.750) with a 36-10-4-2 record for 78 points in the 10-team Pacific Division. Most of the roster is experienced so the early success has not really been a surprise.

“We’ve got a little more of the older veteran players who have come from all over,” said Bylsma. “For an American Hockey League team, we’re a little bit older. We have a lot of quality players and older players who have established themselves as pros at this level and at the National Hockey League level. Yes, you would expect us to have a pretty competitive team.”

One big reason for that success has been the play of former Muskegon Lumberjack goaltender Joey Daccord, who has a 21-6-3 record, a 2.43 goals-against-average and three shutouts.

“I talked with him a little bit about his Muskegon days,” Bylsma said. “He played in Muskegon in his junior days and he went on to college then he turned pro. He is another one of the guys the Kraken got in the expansion draft. I’ve said numerous times that he’s one of our best players, if not our best player and most valuable player for us. He’s a great goaltender and a dynamic goaltender.”

He has been involved in professional hockey as a player, assistant and head coach. And to think it’s been 31 years since he launched his pro career with the Greensboro Monarchs in the 1992-93 season. Since then, his stops have taken him all over the map and even included some time in Canada playing for Moncton.

“I am well traveled and been to many different places,” said Bylsma, who is in his 19th year of coaching. “I can say 30 years ago … that was a different life ago. Playing pro hockey after college for 12 years. I made a career change at that point.”

His final season as a player was split between Anaheim (NHL) and Cincinnati (AHL).  The final numbers will say Bylsma played 429 games in the NHL for the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks over the course of 9 seasons.

He then made the transition from player to coach for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks. Then it was off to Wilkes-Barre Scranton as an assistant then as head coach. That’s where Bylsma’s career highlight begins.

When the parent club, Pittsburgh Penguins were struggling, the Pens’ top brass plucked Bylsma from the AHL and named him the Penguins’ interim head coach. All he did was lead the Penguins to an 18-3-4 record in the latter stages of the regular season then cruised to the Stanley Cup championship in the spring of 2009. Yes, it’s coming up on 14 years already. On February 15, 2009, Bylsma was elevated to the NHL with the Penguins and his first game was on Long Island in New York City against the New York Islanders the following day.

“It certainly is the highlight and the apex of the journey, without question,” Bylsma said. “Getting the call from Ray Shero, getting the call up to the Penguins and having the opportunity to coach them for the last 25 games of the season and riding that into the playoffs. There is no higher high than the Stanley Cup and winning in Detroit in Game 7.”

Bylsma won the Jack Adams Coach of the Year Award in 2001, the first-ever in franchise history for the Penguins. That team finished 49-25-8 during the regular season despite the fact it was an injury-plagued season for the Penguins. Superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were both out the final 35 games of that season. But come playoff time, the Penguins were gone in the first round.

Those disappointing finishes were an annual event. They made it to the third round once and were eliminated in the first round two other seasons.

His resume also includes stints with USA Hockey. He was head coach of the United States Olympic Hockey Team for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

“If you pinpoint the highs and the pinnacle, that opportunity to coach the U.S. Olympic Team in 2014 games in Sochi, it was probably the biggest honor of my coaching career,” Bylsma said. “It was a bitter sweet experience, it was a great experience. It was awesome. I have many fond memories of coaching the Olympic Team. We all wanted and hoped for the game against Canada and we got it in the semifinal game and we came up short. It was a low within the high of coaching the Olympic team.”

Early the next day, an exhausted Team USA played Finland and lost to finish fourth in the Games.

From there, Bylsma was hired by the Buffalo Sabres, where he lasted 2 seasons without a playoff appearance.  He was relieved of his duties after the 2016-17 season.

Then came a 3-year stint in Detroit as a Red Wings’ assistant then one season with the Calder Cup champion Charlotte Checkers in the AHL. The Checkers were the top affiliate of the Seattle Kraken.

When the Firebirds were born, Bylsma, 52, was hired as the first-ever head coach for the Firebirds. Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis said Bylsma’s ability to develop future Kraken prospects along with his wealth of NHL and AHL experience made him an easy choice as the head coach. And the results have made it a successful venture in Southern California.

“A lot of people are jumping at the opportunity to come see hockey here in the desert,” Bylsma said. “And we have a good flavor of first timers who made the desert their home and never had a pro team to root for and cheer for in this area. They are coming out in droves and excited about seeing hockey here in the desert.”