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Shocking news for fans in Pegulaville, but not to those on the inside as Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray has announced that Dan Lambert has been named the new head coach of the Rochester Americans.
Unbeknownst to fans and media, this was the plan since last summer when Lambert was hired as a Sabres assistant coach.
Lambert spent the last season learning the Sabres way to do things while he assisted his friend Dan Bylsma in Buffalo.
The plan worked to perfection.
Tim Murray made sure that every man knew his role and knew the plan before last season began.
Bylsma will have to begin his search for a new associate coach.
Fan and player favorite Randy Cunneyworth has been reassigned to a position within the Sabres Player Development department.
The Sabres have issued the following statement:
“We had a plan in place going into last season to eventually promote Dan to head coach of the Americans and transition Randy back to player development,” said Murray. “With his experience as a Sabres assistant last season, we felt Dan was ready to take on the added responsibility of being a head coach and implementing our organizational philosophy in Rochester.”
Lambert becomes the 31st coach in Amerks franchise history and joins the team after spending the 2015-16 season as an assistant coach with the Buffalo Sabres. Lambert was part of head coach Dan Bylsma’s coaching staff in Buffalo that guided the team to a 27-point improvement in the standings over the previous season.
Prior to joining the Sabres, Lambert led the Kelowna Rockets (WHL) to a 53-13-6 record and a Western Conference title in his first season as head coach in 2014-15.
Before taking over as head coach in Kelowna in 2014-15, Lambert spent five seasons as an assistant coach with the Rockets.
Lambert enjoyed a 19-year professional career as a player after being drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in the sixth round (106th overall) of the 1989 NHL Draft and netted 15 points (6+9) in 29 NHL games for Quebec. Lambert also appeared in 614 combined AHL/IHL games with Fort Wayne, Halifax, Moncton, San Diego and Los Angeles, totaling 474 points (120+354) and 845 penalty minutes.
He was named the IHL’s outstanding defenseman in 1997-98 after recording 78 points (19+59) in 81 games for Los Angeles. He went on to spend 10 seasons playing in Germany (DEL), including five seasons as the captain of the Hannover Scorpions. In 488 DEL games, Lambert had 299 points (80+219) and 667 penalty minutes.
Cunneyworth, who re-joined the Amerks prior to last season for his second stint with the team and ninth season overall as Rochester’s head coach, previously worked in Buffalo’s player development department in 2013-14 and 2014-15. On March 23, 2016, Cunneyworth set the franchise record for most career coaching victories (338) in a win over the St. John’s IceCaps.
Dan Bylsma likely already has compiled a short list of candidates for the assistant coach job vacancy.
We can rule out Tony Granato, Bylsma's assistant in Pittsburgh. Granato recently skated away from the Detroit Red Wings to accept the head coaching job at the University of Wisconsin.
Early names that I am hearing to replace Lambert in Buffalo are Mike Yeo, Luke Richardson, and Travis Green. Yeo served as an assistant under Bylsma in Pittsburgh. Richardson is the head coach of the Binghamton Senators. Green is the head coach of the Utica Comets.
All three men would like to coach in the NHL.
Yeo was fired by the Minnesota Wild last season. Richardson was passed over again as a head coach candidate for the Ottawa Senators who hired Guy Boucher last week. Green is supposed to interview for the Anaheim Ducks job vacancy created by the firing of Bruce Boudreau last month.
Yeo and Richardson are also linked to interviews with the Ducks.
More to come...
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