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WHL's Kelowna Rockets lose Dan Lambert to Buffalo Sabres

Dan Lambert guided Kelowna to a 53-13-0-6 regular-season record (Aaron Bell, CHL Images)
Dan Lambert guided Kelowna to a 53-13-0-6 regular-season record (Aaron Bell, CHL Images)

It turns out that when new Buffalo Sabres coach Dan Bylsma was in Kelowna as a guest coach in March, he was informally checking out Dan Lambert to fill an opening on staff.

On Monday, Lambert, who was the Western Hockey League coach of the year after guiding the Kelowna Rockets to a championship as a first-year head coach, joined Bylsma with the Sabres an assistant coach. It's a bit of a shocker this Lambert's tenure is over in a flash, but the two have that type of rapport.

"I don't think that anybody anticipated this was going to happen after my first season as head coach," Lambert told CBC Radio reporter Josh Pagé. "I think it was a bit of a surprise to [Rockets general manager and president] Bruce [Hamilton] but in saying that he was very supportive and understood that we all have aspirations in life. Mine is I want to be the best coach that I can be."

Lambert was just the Rockets' fourth head coach since the turn of the millennium, with each one having delivered a WHL championship. The two who preceded him, Ryan Huska (2007-14) and Jeff Truitt (2004-07), first worked for the Okanagan Valley club as assistant or associates alongside Marc Habscheid (1999-2000 through '04, when Kelowna won the Memorial Cup). Lambert also followed the progression of being an assistant before taking the top job, but that chain might be broken. Lambert's main assistants, 26-year-old Kris Mallette and 27-year-old Travis Crickard, each have each coached with the Rockets for only one season.

Given Hamilton's connections throughout the WHL and with Hockey Canada, there is a chance to get a big name as a replacement.

With that being said, Lambert's move up should be occasion to perish the thought that he won a championship with Huska's troops. Kelowna tweaked its roster significantly to go for a championship. Making that work required Lambert and his staff to get a "buy in" from everyone.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @naitSAYger.