By Robert Dvorchak, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette
Dan Bylsma faced another round of questions as the team came home off the road sans Michel Therrien.
In training camp, Dan Bylsma was on the ice with the Penguins during practice and drills and behind the bench twice during preseason games.
Starting this morning, he will be directing the NHL cast in his first practice as the top man, not offering spot coaching advice as he did when his main responsibility was guiding the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Baby Penguins.
"My practices will be a lot like games -- fast-paced, north-south, executing at a high tempo and a high pace," the interim coach said yesterday in an introductory session with the Pittsburgh media. "They will be drills that have a definite purpose in what we're trying to do going forward with our game plan and how we want to play as a team."
Given that the Penguins will have to make up some ground just to qualify for the playoffs with 24 games remaining, Bylsma does not have the luxury of time.
But, as one who made it to the NHL as an unsung penalty-killer for the Los Angeles Kings, he never was much for luxury. The Los Angeles Times once said he looked like a wire-rimmed computer software salesman. But it also noted that he played for six minor league teams in six seasons, and in his 429 NHL games spanning nine seasons, he never once minded playing short-handed.
"To play in this league is a privilege," Bylsma said in the 1997 article. "To not work as hard as you can on the ice, that goes against the game."
He has been riding the whirlwind since Sunday when he got the call that he was replacing Michel Therrien.
Without the benefit of a full practice, he was behind the bench for a shootout loss to the Islanders Monday.
"One more point would have made the day a lot better," he said.
And now, Bylsma must rally the Penguins on the fly.
"I said to the players when I met them for the first time that we don't have the benefit of a training camp and 82 games," Bylsma said. "We don't have the building of a trust and relationship that we would go through for the first 20 games and build and build and build as a team. It's got to happen now."
If he didn't believe he could pull it off, Ray Shero would not have turned to him.
"It's well within our abilities, it's well within our reach, to turn this thing around right now," Bylsma said.
John Dunn/Associated Press
Game 1 vs. the Islanders came so fast in a whirlwind that Bylsma didn't have time to be nervous.
One immediate change will be additional responsibilities for Tom Fitzgerald, the organization's director of player development. A veteran of 17 NHL seasons and a former captain of the Nashville Predators, Fitzgerald will be behind the bench to help Bylsma with the penalty kill. While there were no comments about Therrien's methods, Fitzgerald also is charged with building relationships between the players and the coaching staff to "get us pointed in the right direction," Bylsma said.
"That plays into Tom's strengths. He established those relationships before. He's looked guys in the eye and challenged them and held them accountable. He's done it in a way, that at the end of the day, they respect. I love his passion, energy and experience in the game."
Passion and energy are popular words with Bylsma, along with being aggressive and playing an attacking style. If the Penguins don't play with all those qualities against the Montreal Canadiens at Mellon Arena tomorrow night, Bylsma will be the most-disappointed person in the house.
"To me, the game is won by playing in the offensive end," Bylsma said. "We're going to play with speed. We're going to play north-south. We're going to take more chances. [We'll be] more aggressive, attacking, to get there with speed and with numbers."
At 38, Bylsma is not far removed from his playing days. He and Petr Sykora were teammates on the Anaheim Mighty Ducks team that made the Stanley Cup final in 2003.
A standout golfer and baseball player during his high school days in Michigan, Bylsma has written four books, including what it takes to make it in the NHL. He runs a hockey camp in Michigan, the details of which are available at www.danbylsma.com.
He has been influenced by coaches such as Andy Murray, who knew when to push a guy, when to pat him on the back and when to give him a kick in the backside. He also learned what makes players respond to coaching messages from former teammate Paul Kariya.
"There will be expectations. There will be demands," Bylsma said.
His immediate priority is "to provide an environment and atmosphere for our players to get better, for our team to get better, and [provide] a chance to become the team I think we can become."
That work starts in earnest at his first full practice as the coach. What dividends it pays will be known in about two months.
Robert Dvorchak can be reached at bdvorchak@post-gazette.com.
First published on February 18, 2009 at 12:00 am
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