Bylsma has that special touch
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Penguins coach Dan Bylsma achieved two important milestones earlier this month. You might have missed them because of the now infamous Friday Night Fights on Long Island and the subsequent Mario Lemieux-driven fallout. But they were significant accomplishments nonetheless. Bylsma got his 100th victory when the Penguins beat the Los Angeles Kings Feb. 10 at Consol Energy Center, then, five days later, celebrated his two-year anniversary on the job. He recognized the first feat in typically understated fashion. "My wife [Mary Beth] doesn't usually come back to my office after a game, but she and my son [Bryan, 12] came back that night and we spent a brief moment together." It's that second achievement that's worth shouting about. Bylsma is a little more than halfway toward becoming the longest-tenured coach in Penguins history. It's unreal, if you think about it. The Steelers have had three coaches in 42 seasons. The Penguins haven't had a man last four consecutive years since they dropped their first puck in 1967.
"I'm well aware of that," Bylsma said, wryly, the other day.
It's probably just as well that Bylsma has little time to think about how his organization -- his sport, really -- has had such little regard for its coaches. He is pretty busy trying to keep the Penguins together through an unbelievable run of injuries and suspensions to key players. He has done a great job. Despite the 3-2 shootout road loss to the Chicago Blackhawks Sunday, the team is 10-7-2 without Sidney Crosby, 7-5-1 without Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
"There aren't a lot of references made to the people we don't have," Bylsma said. "We don't sound alarm bells. There's no panic. We don't have to re-do things. We don't ask our players to step up. We don't ask them to change. We just ask them to focus more on being themselves and playing their game. It's not about who's not in the room. It's about who is in the room right now. It's all about right now."
First Published February 21, 2011 12:00 am
