The Seattle Kraken have named Dan Bylsma of Grand Haven, Michigan as their new head coach according to nhl.com. The Kraken are the third National Hockey League franchise Bylsma has been the head coach for. He was previously the head coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2009 to 2014, and the head coach for the Buffalo Sabres from 2015 to 2017. Bylsma has coached 565 regular season games, and had a record of 320 wins, 190 regular season losses and 55 losses in extra time. He had a winning percentage of .668.
Stanley Cup champion
Bylsma was the Penguins head coach when they won their third Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2009. The Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings four games to three in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Penguins previously won the Stanley Cup in the Mario Lemieux era of 1991 and 1992. Fascinatingly, Lemieux’s teammate when the Penguins won those two Stanley Cups were Ron Francis of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Francis is the current Kraken general manager and the person responsible for hiring Bylsma in Seattle.
Bylsma is one of seven American coaches in National Hockey League history to win a Stanley Cup. He is joined by Mike Sullivan of Marshfield, Massachusetts (2016 and 2017 with the Penguins), Leo Dandurand of Bourbonnais, Illinois (1925 with the Montreal Canadiens), Bill Stewart of Fitchburg, Massachusetts (1938 with the Chicago Black Hawks), Bob Johnson of Minneapolis, Minnesota (1991 with the Penguins), John Tortorella of Boston, Massachusetts (2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning), and Peter Laviolette of Franklin, Massachusetts (2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes).
Jack Adams Winner
Bylsma won the Jack Adams Award for the best coach in the National Hockey League for the 2010-11 season. That year he guided the Penguins to a first place tie with the Philadelphia Flyers in the Atlantic Division. Both teams had 106 points. Bylsma posted a regular season record of 49 wins, 25 regulation losses and eight losses in extra time. He is one of only two American coaches to win the Jack Adams. The other is Tortorella, who was honoured with the Lighting in 2003-04 and with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2016-17.
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