The Dan Bylsma Show - VERY FIRST EDITION

The show was hosted by Steve Mears (both Dan and Steve are Bowling Green alum).

The show was pretty informal and they started talking about influences on Bylsma's coaching strategy and his saying that Mike Babcock was the biggest influence. He also mentioned Andy Murray teaching him preparation and Todd Richards implementing coaching style. And says pretty much if any of these guys sat in on him coaching, they could probably all pick out exactly what he took from each of them.

They talked a little about him as a player and Mears asked why grinders make the best coaches and Bylsma told him it's because those are the players that work the hardest day-in and day-out which lends itself to the mindset of a coach.

There were several segments to the show: "MIC'D UP" which were sound bites of Bylsma during Penguins practice.

Another part of the show included mapping out a play / strategy then hitting the ice to put it into action (which Mears said is useful for those in youth hockey or just an inciteful part of the show for fans). In this edition of the show, Bylsma talked about avoiding plays at the blueline (push back the defense), middle-lane drive on rushes, dot-wide option entering the zone, and creating speed / space for opportunities on the rush.

The "on-ice" part of the show had Dan talking about "pass off the pads (P.O.P)" He actually looked into the camera at one point and says, "P-O-P, yeah you know me!" He's quite amusing and entertaining and I'm honestly glad they're doing these shows so we can see a little more of his personality.

One of the last segments was "ASK DAN ANYTHING" and here are just a few of the questions / answers:

• How do you stay so calm in all circustances? He said he's not always that calm and that one of the things he thinks is that the team takes on your personality, so if you come unglued and lose your cool, the team follows suit (it's something he had to work really hard on)! After the game, he closes the door to the coach's office and let's loose!
• Do you and your family have any pets? A dog named Sanders (he promised himself he would never get a small dog, but one day he came home with his wife and son playing with a 5 pound chihuahua in the yard); if you ask him, the dog is named for Barry Sanders but his son will tell you it's for Mr. Sanders from Winnie the Pooh.