How about this for a movie script? A minor league coach takes over an underachieving professional team and leads it to a championship.

The new coach brings a fun-loving atmosphere to the team and fosters a never-say-die attitude. This attitude comes in handy when his team has to come from behind twice after falling behind, 2-0, in playoff series. And again when his team twice wins in Game 7s on the road, the final one coming in his home state against the team he grew up rooting for.

The story line might be considered too far-fetched for Disney executives, but it was reality for Dan Bylsma and the 2009 Penguins.

""I can't believe that's me in the picture in the paper. That's me holding the Stanley Cup," Bylsma said less than 48 hours after leading the Penguins past the Detroit Red Wings for the third Stanley Cup in franchise history. "I don't wake up and see myself as the coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's surreal. It's a little bit out of body."

It is easy to understand why Bylsma, 38, still has a hard time believing that he is not dreaming about what has taken place over the past four years since his playing career ended.

After a nine-year National Hockey League career with the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks as a defensive forward who specialized in killing penalties, the Grand Haven, Mich., native spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach in the American Hockey League and NHL.

Bylsma spent one season as an assistant with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the AHL before getting hired as an assistant with the New York Islanders in 2005-06.

The Penguins hired him to assist Todd Richards in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the 2006-07 season. Penguins general manager Ray Shero promoted Bylsma to head coach of the Baby Penguins in the fall after Richards signed on to be an assistant with the San Jose Sharks.

In February, Bylsma was plucked from the Baby Penguins to lead the NHL Penguins after the team had slumped under then-coach Michel Therrien and fallen out of playoff contention.

So Bylsma went from formulating game plans to beat the Lake Erie Monsters and San Antonio Rampage of the AHL to the high-pressure situation of coaching an NHL team full of superstar players that had played below expectations.

It turned out that the job was right up Bylsma's alley.

When he took over Feb. 15, the Penguins were 27-25-5 and in 10th place in the Eastern Conference. Over the next two months, the Penguins would be resuscitated under Bylsma's energetic and up-tempo style.

They finished the regular season 18-3-4 in the final 25 games and earned the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Penguins won four consecutive playoff series, including epic seven-game series against the Washington Capitals and the Red Wings to claim the Stanley Cup.

It was satisfying in more ways than one for Bylsma. He was a member of the organization last year when the Red Wings toppled the Penguins and skated around with the Cup on Mellon Arena ice. But Bylsma had a another, more personal Cup story to avenge.

In 2003, Bylsma played in the Stanley Cup final with the Ducks against the New Jersey Devils. The Devils and Ducks split the first six games to set up a decisive Game 7 in New Jersey.

Bylsma had an opportunity to score early in that game but could not beat Devils goalie Martin Brodeur. The Devils went on to win, 3-0, to claim the Stanley Cup.

It was clearly something that motivated Bylsma in the days leading up to Game 7 in Detroit.

"The USA Today the following morning had a picture of me and Marty Brodeur with the puck in the air," Bylsma recalled. "That was my chance when it was 0-0, and I do remember it very vividly."

In an ironic twist it was a grinding forward with little scoring touch who scored the first two goals for the Penguins in Game 7 against the Red Wings. Max Talbot, who earned a job in the NHL by killing penalties and excelling in defensive situations, was the hero in Game 7 that Bylsma had failed to be for Anaheim.

With the come-from-behind victory against the Red Wings, Bylsma became the first coach since Al MacNeil in 1971 with the Montreal Canadiens to win the Stanley Cup as a rookie midseason replacement. Bylsma, who is married with one son, also joined MacNeil in the NHL record books as the only coach to lead his team to a championship after losing the first two games of the Stanley Cup final on the road.

"In the history of hockey annals, I don't think anyone ever came in and did the job that Dan has done," said Eddie Johnston, a former coach and general manager of the Penguins who is now the senior adivser for hockey operations. "In February, we were dead in the water. We were trying to just get in the playoffs.

"He had a great first meeting, emphasized the change of attitude. He said we'd have more fun, get more involved in the offense. Everyone jumped into it, the way he coached.

"There's nothing in the world that Dan can't do now. And I think we're on the verge of winning a few more Cups in the very near future."

Bylsma's coaching style stands in stark contrast to the way Therrien led the team. Therrien provided structure and discipline to a young team that needed to learn how to win, but, by February, his message was failing to resonate.

On the ice, Therrien played it safe, teaching a conservative offensive system with special detail paid to defensive responsibilities.

Bylsma tweaked the system and brought a completely different management style. He engineered a change of attitude, encouraging players to have fun and let loose while instituting a high-energy offensive assault that played to the team's strengths.

"Obviously, I think he's a great X's and O's coach," Penguins defenseman Hal Gill said. "He does the little things right. But, more importantly, I think our attitude changed. We came to the rink excited to play. We had fun. We said if we're going to lose, we're going to be aggressive and have fun doing it."

It was a change that was met with enthusiasm from a team that was built for offense. Superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were unleashed and defensemen, who previously were taught to be conservative, were told to be aggressive as Bylsma preached pressure in the opponent's end of the rink.

"He brings an excitement about every game, every shift," Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar said.

Gonchar and his teammates are looking forward to playing a full season under Bylsma. It's an opportunity that MacNeil never received in Montreal.

After leading the Canadiens to the '71 Stanley Cup, MacNeil was forced out that summer after Montreal legend Henri Richard called MacNeil "incompetent" and "the worst coach I've ever played for."

The Penguins are saying much nicer things about Bylsma, who figures to have more opportunities to win Stanley Cup titles with a young team whose stars are signed to long-term contracts.

Many coaches wince at the mention of a repeat, but Bylsma already is embracing the possibility.

"What an opportunity to see if we can get back again," he said. "Only one team a year gets this opportunity, and we're going to try to be that team again."

A Stanley Cup sequel would be just fine with Penguins fans, but it's hard to imagine a more unlikely story line than the one that took place this season with a rookie head coach.