From the Front Office: Dan Bylsma 

This conversation occurred on Oct. 11 after the Kraken’s first game versus St. Louis.

We're going to start with something really hard-hitting here. Where did the nickname “Disco Dan” come from?

It was 1994, I believe. It was during the NHL work stoppage. I was in the IHL in Phoenix, LA's farm team, and Byron Dafoe came down to play with us during the work stoppage. He walked into our dressing room and said, “My nickname is ‘Bizy,’ (which is what the guys were calling me at the time); you have to get a new nickname.” He declared it in front of everybody. It was a big deal. So I went into nickname limbo for a period of time during which my nickname went from ‘Bizy’ to five or six or seven or eight or nine or ten other nicknames over the course of a month, month and a half, as I was trying to get out of nickname limbo.

“Disco Dan” was one of the names that eventually stuck. From that point on, I've been Disco Dan – it’s followed me. You know, you don't always get to choose (your nickname). You might not always like it, but they seem to stick. It's followed me up to LA when I played there, and to Anaheim when I played there, and then I started coaching in the Anaheim organization, and so I was coaching some of the players that I had played with, and Disco Dan kept on following me around. It's, it's stuck now for -- I'm not good at math --- for a long time.

What excited you about the opportunity to become the head coach at the Seattle Kraken?

I think the familiarity with the people and the players, and the organization. You want the opportunity (to work with) good people, and you want the opportunity to work with good players. I’ve spent a lot of time with (Kraken general manager) Ron Francis over the last two or three years in Charlotte (for the 2021-22 season, Bylsma served as an assistant coach with the AHL Charlotte Checkers, where Kraken prospects played), and in Coachella (Bylsma served as head coach of the Kraken’s AHL affiliate for the past two seasons).

I've had a relationship with (Kraken assistant general manager) Jason Botterill going back to the Pittsburgh days for the six years when I was there. And so those relationships get me excited. The people in the organization, and the enthusiasm and the positivity… it’s infectious right from our ownership down to Ron and continues onto the players. So, it's an exciting opportunity because of that.

When you were first hired by the Kraken, what were some of the clearest opportunities for growth that you saw with this team, even from afar?

I think really building on the positives that are already evident and already there. They had success two years ago in the playoffs, getting 100 points in the season, being a fast team, being a deep team with 12 good forwards. They were strong throughout the defense and were a hard team to play against because they were fast. And I think the biggest chance for growth is just changing the mentality, a little bit of how we play, and making sure that we're playing fast, making sure that we're playing as a deep team, and building on the positives that are already evident on this team.

You have the unique opportunity to have seen some of your former Firebirds players become NHL-caliber players. How special is that? And how rewarding is that for you as a coach to see that growth?

That's what coaching is all about for me personally - working with players…with individual players, working with the team, and seeing them become the best they can be. And that's Ryker Evans, over the last two years, growing as a player and growing into an NHLer. It’s Shane Wright or Joey Daccord. Those are all things that I think coaching is all about. And I take a great deal of pride in that growth both individually, in those individual players, but also in the team becoming the best version of what they can become. That's what we're trying to do.

You've held various coaching positions, from the AHL to the NHL just and in this organization as well. Over time, how has your approach, both tactically but also from a leadership perspective, evolved?

I think probably from a tactical standpoint, it's become “less.” I think when you talk about systems and talk about those X's and O's, I think as I've grown as a coach. It's less about the X's and O's, and more and more and more about how we play as a team, how the individual plays as a team. And so I like to think I'm detailed and focused on systems, but really more the mentality of how both the individual and the team play.

Let’s talk about your coaching staff. Steve Briere and Dave Lowery were already here. You brought in Bob Woods and Jessica Campbell. What do you like about the coaching staff that you have, the dynamic of the group and the various skill sets and experience that they bring?

I think Bob probably exemplifies it the best, just the relationships, the personal relationships that each one of these individuals you mentioned can establish with the players. We're trying to build a mindset. We're trying to build a focus for the team in a certain way, and we’re going to rely on Jessica, we’re going to rely on Bob, we’re going to rely on Dave a lot for getting that message to the players on an individual basis. It's the personalities and the relationships that they are great at establishing that are going to help this coaching staff do that.

Can you share a little bit about your history with Bob Woods, your relationship and why you wanted to bring him to the Kraken coaching staff?

Bob is a coach that I butted heads with a lot over my coaching journey and my coaching path. I was in Wilkes Barre (coaching the AHL Wilkes Barre Penguins). He was in Hershey (coaching the Hershey Bears). They were great teams. We were trying to be great, great teams. They won a Calder Cup. We beat them in the playoffs one year. Then it continued on to Pittsburgh and Washington. When he joined the Washington Capitals staff with Bruce Boudreau and I was in Pittsburgh, those were two great teams having big clashes. The second series of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs was the biggest playoff series that I had been a part of. And Bob was on the other bench. He’s won a lot of hockey games against me, and I think I won a few against him.

That was the reason why I wanted to choose Bob to be a part of my coaching staff in Buffalo because of that past experience. That led to having a year of experience with Bob as a coach and seeing what he can do - especially building those relationships with defensemen, in particular. He's done that over the past couple of years. He’s coached a lot of big-name defensemen that he’s been able to establish a good relationship and good rapport with and coach them up. So, I’m super excited to have Bob on the staff for those reasons.

What kind of culture and energy do you want to establish with this team?

(smiles) I talked to the guys about being on time, being respectful, and being “lethal,” and there’s a lot that goes into those feelings. There are systematic things that we can do to make sure we're playing “lethal,” but I think it's more just that (I) want to see the growth of the mentality that we want to be a hard team to play against. We want to be a fast team to play against. We want to be a team that the opposition knows they're going to be in for a fight every time they step on the ice against us, and that comes with a little bit of swagger, too.

You have coached teams to Stanley Cup wins before. The game continues to evolve, of course, and it’s a different game, maybe today than before, but what stands out in your mind about what it takes to actually get a team to be able to hoist the Cup?

I just take the evidence of the last couple of years. I think the Panthers have done a great job of developing an identity and having all the guys/team, all the guys, believe in the identity, and then just doing it over and over and over and over again.

You don't have to be the best; you don't have to have the best players. You don't have to have a star player. You have to have the best team to be able to have your team win hockey games and ultimately win (a championship). That's what we're trying to get with our group.

You've said that you want this team to play fast, and bring that high level of compete. What does that actually look like to you on the ice?

We're one game deep into the season, but I think a good part of the first half of the first game (versus St. Louis) was what it looks like. It's not perfect. It's not beautiful, but it's fast, it's energetic, it's to the offensive zone and playing there as much and as long as you possibly can. I think the game isn't really a difficult game to figure out. It's about where you play it, how you play it, and how hard you compete at it to get the result that you want. That will always be the progress of our team.

What's impressed you about this team so far?

I've just been really excited about the mindset of the group and the individual players. Repeatedly in conversation with the players (they talk about how), they're not happy about what's happened in the past, especially last year, and they have a burning desire to get that to change.

I was trying to have a conversation with Matty Beniers about something else yesterday, and it turned into, ‘How and what can I do better? How can, what can we do better to get to where we want to go?’ And so that mindset from the players, that mindset from the team, has been enlightening to me, energetic to me. It's great to see, and it means we have a chance to go somewhere.

You mentioned Matty Beniers. He is wearing an A now. The team named Jordan Eberle captain. What can you share about the process of finding that leadership group, and the importance of having a captain in Jordan Eberle?

You might not get the answer that you want to get from me on this one. I think the C on Jordan Eberle was evident. We put the C on his jersey for game one, but it was always there from before. The type of person he is, the demeanor he has, just the mindset he brings to the rink every day, he's a true professional, and he's also true to wanting everything positive for the team. And so, it was we unveiled the C, but it was there before in terms of the rest.

I think you talk about what I'm surprised at, or what I enjoyed so far about this group, it’s that we could have 19 A's. We could have other guys who were also eligible to wear the C with their demeanor, and how they act and how they play. We have a large group of guys that are drivers in this team and leaders in this team, and so that's really been great for me.

Matty, I think in the evolution of himself, and his career, just for the way he's acted, just by the way he's worked, Just by the way he conducts himself, he's turning into a leader for this group and for these guys. That’s still an ongoing process. He’s getting an A to acknowledge that. But he’s still learning and growing and he’s still going to learn and grow from the other leaders around him as he grows his game.

This transcript was lightly edited for clarity and brevity.