Kraken Sound: Head Coach Dan Bylsma – May 28, 2024

Kraken Sound: Head Coach Dan Bylsma – May 28, 2024

Dan we saw you smiling through that video you’ve done just about everything in your career what makes this opportunity special uh you know what I I’m uh I’m a pretty present and focused individual for the now and the moment and um that’s all nice to see that stuff up there but um um for the team for the players it’s all about right now and and in this moment and you know I said I’m I’m just I’m thankful for the opportunity for the moment to be now and I think it’s with a with good people and a good organization and with good players and and uh for me it was a great fit for for this to be the next opportunity for me uh Ron uh Chris Francis from Kyo 7 News uh what makes Dan in terms of style play on the ice what we’ll see on the ice next year what makes Dan uh different than this system we had last year well I I think there’s going to be a lot of similarities we’ll we’ll discuss some of the things here as we move forward things we want to tweak uh that maybe we weren’t doing uh as well last year our offense certainly fell off so we need to find a way to kind of tweak some things in the offensive zone to get offense back but uh as I said in my opening I mean he brings a passion to the rink every day his teams play hard every night you watch them play um the thing that’s been exciting for me is you know year one down there we had an extremely veteran team and they were still able to get to the the call The Cup finals this year we transitioned over we’re no longer one of the older teams teams in the league one of the younger teams in the league a lot of young kids coming into our lineup and yet they were still to get to the final four and hopefully Beyond as they move forward here but a lot of progress not only from our veterans that have been there but our young kids that have been there and and the Kraken fans saw a little bit of that in you know Ty Cartier coming up Reich revans coming up they got a taste at the end of the year with Wright and Winterton and Morrison and there’s some other young players that have progressed as well so I think the ability with our team which has a mix of that the veteran guys the young guys that I mentioned Maddie also being a young guy I think Dan’s personality and style of of how he coaches will mesh well with our locker room and and uh help get the best out of our players com here in town good to see you guys and actually a question for both of you for Ron uh Dan’s experience with those young guys you just mentioned how important was that as he went through the process and then for Dan uh the ability the the chance to continue that development with those guys as they more and more of them arrive here in Seattle yeah I it’s important I don’t I don’t want to slight we got a we got a team here that we’re focused on a lot of the younger kids were down there that he worked with but I think just how he worked through both the veterans and the young kids like I said I think we will bode well for our team here um but certainly if you look down the road and you know not we have a lot of good pieces coming and and Dan and his staff have showed that they can develop young players as well as veteran guys so that’s important in making this decision and I heard you say recently you were talking about how players young players have changed from when you were a young player in the 90s and you answered that it was coaches it was more incumbent on coaches to change from the way they had been coaching why is that I well I I think um I think uh let’s go back a long time ago as coaches or as players we got told what to do and we received it um anyway anyway we knew how to receive it and and I think today and and my coaching style it’s about relationships it’s about getting on the same page with the player and the individual and they’re a part of it they want to be a part of it they want to have the discussion um they want to have a clear plan and message as to how they can get better and how they can improve and how the team can play and and be successful and and so um there’s a much bigger onus on the the coach to to be able to establish relationships with uh not only the each and every individual on the team but also the team um as a whole and as I said it’s incumbent on the the coach to to make that change in how he coaches and and kind of for me and my journey over the last 15 years of coaching is is uh has been just that I’m wondering it’s been it’s been you know several years now since you’ve been behind an NHL bench running it was getting back to this point a a goal of yours at some point in your career or were you kind of not resigned but happy with the roles that you were taking on as an assistant or or working in the minors I think uh my my coaching Journey over the last three three four years has led me to to this point um four years ago um I think I needed to to uh discover in the joy of coaching again and and changing a little bit and establishing relationships with the players and having done that over the past three years it’s led me to um this wanting to be the opportunity that that I took next so I I you know the yes in the last few years and Coachella and how our team’s played how the players reacted to me how we we came together as a group has reignited um my desire to to be at the National Hockey League level um so it’s kind of my my journey that’s led me to this point and one I think I’m better prepared for now than maybe I was four years ago when when I referenced that time point along the lines of the the previous question I’m just wondering where you think your uh a coaching style and approach with players has changed the most since you left Buffalo let’s say in terms of of temperament in terms of um just your overall relationships uh probably just the the joy of of you know what Ron mentioned about what he’s witnessed over the last two years three years when connecting with the players coaching the players developing the players developing the team um has has been kind of where I think I’ve improved as a coach and what I’ve wanted to improve as a coach and um I think it it can be it can be a little bit difficult when you get to the National High League to do that and uh I this time around it won’t be Dan you’ve talked about the importance of relationships with this being the offseason I know some coaches go with letters meetings recommending books how will you connect with your NHL roster going into next year well I uh going to be going immediately back to CV to get the G one going underneath the way but uh I I will reach out to each and every one um in due time um a few of them have already reached out um so some of them we’ve have previous relationships with and and have already started to develop those things but I also think I’ve been in the organization for the past 3 years um I’ve talked with Jared mccan and I’ve talked with E and and matd bers and I think I have a good pretty good feel for them and they have a pretty good feel for me and so um but that that will continue I I will uh I will get and reach out to everyone in in due time uh I was on the ice interviewing in you one of one of the guys when you hoisted that cup so obviously vivid memory I remember your joy yes but two three questions um one what also stands out from that team obviously besides the talents of Sid Gino and staly and flower the intangibles you might be seeing it now on CV too that make it a championship roster what other things are vivid the great thing about hockey is it’s played with skill and speed and Grace in a combination of competitive Brawn and aggression and and when you you look at um that team when you look at those guys like just great competitors great competitors and and every great team has has uh ultra competitive players and and every game that’s won is won by the the best competitor and and that’s that’s necessary and mandatory to to Win Hockey games and so you get the speed and skill and and Grace but you need to have some tenacity and and uh a aggression uh alongside it to be an ultra ultra competitive guy I got to ask you with all your experience as a head coach with your stop previous stops and your your stops as an assistant head coach um what’s been the most important thing you’ve learned and experience you can bring to building success on a team uh Bowling Green no uh I it really uh it it really goes back to my playing days um both on an IND individual standpoint and a team standpoint and um we talked a little bit about maybe how the old coaching style was um back then and as a player I just wanted the coach to to let me know what I needed to do where I needed to go how I needed to do it and where I could get better where I could improve and uh and I would take it from there and and so um all along as a player I was just I kind of knew I was going to be a coach someday cuz that’s how I wanted my coach to be to me and and so it goes back to establishing relationships with the players and having clear expectations and um and that it goes as individually and for the team and um that’s you know that’s kind of my coaching style now it’s going to be high energy and it’s going to be um you know they’re not going to question um my energy at all um and and they don’t need to question what I expect of them and and what I expect of the team at all as well and we’re going to get in that process together and we’re going to and we’re going to um it’s going to come out in some ultra competitive hockey

Joined by Seattle Kraken owner Samantha Holloway & General Manager Ron Francis, the organization welcomes new Head Coach Dan Bylsma

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