New Sabres Coach Dan Bylsma Reflects On His Time In Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH (KDKA 93-7 The Fan)- Former Penguins coach Dan Bylsma was recently hired by the Buffalo Sabres as their new head coach. Bylsma told Bob Pompeani Saturday that the high point during his time in Pittsburgh was winning the Stanley Cup in 2009, while the biggest disappointment was not winning a second Stanley Cup with the Penguins.
"We were in situations and opportunities to do that with the teams we had and the players we had and where we were at, and just never were able to do that again and certainly, the biggest disappointment for me," Bylsma said.
Bylsma was disappointed by the Penguins playoff exit in 2010, when they were eliminated by the Montreal Canadiens in seven games.
"I think we were maybe a better team than we were in '09. Obviously we had been together longer, played together longer, and really thought we had a chance to win again," Bylsma said.
Bylsma reflected on being fired by the Penguins after the 2013-14 season.
"The biggest surprise for me was Ray Shero being fired before myself. I thought I should have been fired, I thought I was going to be fired," Bylsma said. "Our expectations here were to win and to win a Stanley Cup, we all knew that. We had had some disappointments and not advanced in previous years, and the disappointment of losing last year again in Game 7 to the Rangers in the second round, I frankly wasn't real surprised that I was let go."
Looking ahead to his tenure in Buffalo, Bylsma is excited by a team with young talent in the organization.
"I really looked at this one for quite awhile," Bylsma said. "This is a team that's getting a lot of good young players, they've got a lot of assets, and an opportunity I was very much looking at as the season ended."
