After serving as an assistant coach with the Sabres last year, Dan Lambert has been named Head Coach of the Rochester Americans. He becomes the 31st coach in Amerks franchise history.
Randy Cunneyworth, after coaching the Americans to a 34-38-4 record, has been reassigned to a position within the Sabres Player Development department. It was his second stint with the team and ninth season overall as Rochester’s head coach. Last March, he set the franchise record for most career coaching wins (338).
“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. 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.” – General Manager Tim Murray
Lambert, a native of St. Boniface, Manitoba, began his coaching career with Kelowna Rockets immediately after retiring from his playing career. He spent five seasons as an assistant coach with the Rockets from 2009-10 to 2013-14, compiling a record of 218-117-9-16 (.640 points percentage), including a league-best 57-11-0-4 mark in 2013-14. In 2014-15, Lambert led the Kelowna Rockets (WHL) to a 53-13-6 record and a Western Conference title in his first season as head coach. The Rockets posted a 16-3 record in the WHL Playoffs, winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup and earning a berth in the Memorial Cup, falling to the Oshawa Generals (OHL) in the Final.
Lambert played 19 years as a professional, playing for the NHL Quebec Nordiques and teams in the AHL and IHL
Sabres coach Dan Bylsma says he will be hiring an assistant coach to replace Lambert.