Building confidence
New Buffalo Sabres coach focuses on the players behind the jersey numbers
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Dan Bylsma is not what you would call a numbers guy. Actually, he’s not what you would call a jersey numbers kind of guy.
When a local broadcaster asks the Buffalo Sabres head coach for his lineup against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Bylsma starts rattling off player numbers, but midway through the defence pairings he gets stuck.
Bylsma is not quite sure if it’s 46 and 6 who are playing together. For a brief second, he’s not even sure there is a 46 on the team.
“Who’s 46 again?” he asks, temporarily forgetting that Cody Franson is wearing that number. “Oh geez, let me see the sheet again.”
It’s all still new for Bylsma, hired by the Sabres in May. Over time, he is confident names and numbers will be committed to memory. But with the season opener one week away, the new head coach is more concerned with getting the team committed to a winning mindset.
The Sabres finished with the worst record in the NHL the past two seasons. And while that was a victory of sorts, because it provided the hapless team with the second-overall pick in the 2014 and 2015 NHL Entry Drafts, the damage of losing so many games left an unforgettable scar.
You can’t, said Bylsma, simply flip a switch and expect different results this year. It does not work that way. Winning has to be re-learned. Confidence has to be regained.
“I think there’s two challenges,” Bylsma said. “The first is coming together as a group and a team. But really, we have to build something because we’re coming from an environment that was not conducive to winning and we didn’t have a winning mindset. We have to build that.”
So Bylsma, known as a players’ coach when he guided the Pittsburgh Penguins to a Stanley Cup in 2009, has become part teacher and part cheerleader at training camp. He is constantly talking to players. But he is also constantly laughing, preferring to deliver his message with a joke rather than a threat.
“He’s a guy that interacts with the guys and makes it a comfortable environment and a fun working environment,” said Franson. “It’s been a lot of fun so far.”
During a drill, Bylsma dumps the puck and then plays the role of the forechecking forward and chases a defenceman around the net. For a team that spent last season having its teeth kicked in night after night — “According to guys who were here last year, the atmosphere was awful,” said Jack Eichel — Bylsma’s coaching style is refreshing, if not necessary.
“He’s a real upbeat guy,” said Matt Moulson. “A lot of energy and a lot of passion for this game. We’ve been feeding off that in camp.”
No one is expecting a quick turnaround in Buffalo. But the team has nine significant new additions, including Eichel, Ryan O’Reilly and Evander Kane up front.
“A lot has changed and transpired about this team from (when he was hired) until now,” said Bylsma. “It’s a young team, it’s a team that’s got a lot of potential and talent..”