Finding 'Joy' With Firebirds Ignited Bylsma's Desire To Coach Kraken

It's not trite, because it's true. Coaching the Firebirds "re-ignited" a flame underneath Dan Bylsma.

The new Seattle Kraken coach said that he never would have found his way back to the NHL until mentoring at AHL Coachella Valley helped him "re-discover the joy of coaching."

In the process, Bylsma found a formula for mixing veterans and prospects into a team which has earned back-to-back trips to the AHL Western Conference Finals.

Actually, what Bylsma called his "journey" began a year before there was a Coachella Valley Firebirds. The expansion Kraken of 2021-22 didn't have their own farm team yet, so they agreed to share one with the Florida Panthers in Charlotte, NC.

The former Stanley Cup-winning coach convinced Seattle GM Ron Francis to add him as the Kraken representative on the Charlotte Checkers. That's right - not as head coach, but as a minor league assistant. Bylsma explains why in this Kraken Reaction.