Former Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma has been hired as the first coach of the Coachella Valley Firebirds, an American Hockey League (AHL) expansion franchise that will serve as the primary affiliate of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken.
The Firebirds are based in Palm Desert, Calif.
Bylsma was hired by the Kraken during the 2021 offseason and served as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Checkers, an AHL team the Kraken shared as an affiliate with the Florida Panthers.
“I just wanted an opportunity to coach and get with players and develop players and do the best I could,” Bylsma said this past season during an interview with the Tribune-Review. “Whether that’s at the (AHL) level or the (ECHL) level or the NHL level, that’s what I want to do right now. I don’t want to do it forever. I just want to keep doing it this year and see where it goes.”
His most recent experience as a head coach in the AHL came with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the 2008-09 campaign when he directed that club to a 35-16-1 record.
Midway through that season, Bylsma was promoted to head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins and guided the franchise to its third Stanley Cup championship.
Over parts of six seasons with the NHL Penguins, Bylsma coached 401 games and had a 252-117-32 record. During the 2010-11 season, he won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach.
In addition to the Penguins, Bylsma has been a head coach of the Buffalo Sabres and an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders. During the 2014 Olympics, Bylsma served as head coach of the United States’ men’s team.
