Dan Bylsma was the Pittsburgh Penguins coach who won the NHL’s Jack Adams Award for the 2010–11 season. The award recognizes the league’s coach of the year, and Bylsma received it after guiding Pittsburgh through a difficult campaign.
The Penguins dealt with major injuries, most notably the absence of captain Sidney Crosby for much of the season after concussion-related issues. Despite that setback, Pittsburgh finished with 106 points and remained one of the NHL’s strongest regular-season teams. Bylsma’s ability to keep the club organized and competitive helped make him the voting choice.
Bylsma had already taken over in Pittsburgh during the 2008–09 season and immediately helped the team win the Stanley Cup. That championship came before his Jack Adams victory, so the two honors recognize different achievements: one celebrates playoff success, while the other evaluates a coach’s regular-season performance.
The 2010–11 award is sometimes confused with later Penguins coaching honors, but Bylsma is the specific Pittsburgh coach associated with that season’s Jack Adams Award.