“I am excited” – Dan Lambert on joining Ryan Huska behind NHL bench

“I thought that was really nice that Dillon gave me a call”, Lambert told RocketFAN. “Dillon said the day that Huska got hired, ‘What are the chances that Lambo would ever end up in Calgary? Gosh, that is too good to be true’, that was his words”.

Lambert recalls Dube being called up to the Kelowna Rockets as a 15-year-old, before eventually playing full-time with the WHL team when Lambert was named head coach in the summer of 2014, with Huska departing for a job as an assistant coaching in the American Hockey League.

“We respect each other”, Lambert adding why he works so well with Huska. “He sees the game one way and I see it another way. He is more defensive, and strategic whereas I see the game in more of an offensive-minded way. We complement each other well in that way. He wants to add people he trusts and people whom he had a relationship with, if possible. I think he appreciates that I see the game a bit differently.”

As a head coach in Kelowna for seven seasons, Huska led the Rockets to a WHL title in 2009 while Lambert, in only one season at the helm, accomplished the same feat in 2015, before he too left the franchise to pursue an assistant coaching gig with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres.

“It is insane how this hockey world is so small”, Lambert said. “I can’t think of a better guy to have my next challenge with than Ryan Huska.”

RocketFAN ask if the two ever butted heads as coaches in Kelowna, to challenge one another in an effort to get better.

“There is no chance we would butt heads behind the bench”, Lambert chuckling at the question. “That’s not the place to do it. Behind closed doors, that is when you want to challenge each other. It is not in a disrespectful way. We had some conversations that got heated on both sides, and that should happen as we are both passionate people and want to win.

“That’s healthy. You need to do that. That happens behind closed doors, but when you come out of those doors, you come out with a plan, and you both agree to it. As an assistant coach, we know in the end it is his decision at the end of the day. My job is to support Ryan Huska, but it is also helping him get better and the team better.”

Trust also goes go a long way.

“The further you go up the coaching ladder, the more you recognize how important that [trust] is”, Lambert said. “That is why you see so many coaches if they change teams, they allow the head coach to pick his assistants. It is such a heavy job as a head coach. There is always pressure. It is always hectic. To have somebody you can bounce ideas off, and vent to at times and know it isn’t going to go anywhere, is very important.”

With six years of coaching experience in the WHL (Kelowna/Spokane) and six seasons of pro hockey (Buffalo/Rochester/Nashville), are there similarities or massive differences when dealing with players at both levels?

“They are both very different”, Lambert added. “You have more players that are coachable than others. You have guys who learn more than others. You have individuals who listen better than others. In junior, most players are striving to get to the NHL, and you are being asked to parent them to a certain degree. When a pro player leaves the rink, they go back to their wives and their children.”

Lambert is thankful years ago that Huska considered him for his coaching staff after he retired from playing in 2009, and feels fortunate he is considered, again, for one of two assistant coaching positions with the Calgary Flames.

“I have never taken the winter off”, Lambert with a sense of uneasiness in his voice at the possibility.

“I don’t even know what that would look like?

“I would have driven my wife [Melanie] crazy.”

by Regan Bartel

“I am excited” – Dan Lambert on joining Ryan Huska behind NHL bench

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