Flames add assistant coaches with offensive flair

Savard and Lambert both known for guiding offensive attack after dynamic careers

The Calgary Flames have added a pair of offensively minded thinkers to their coaching staff.

Marc Savard and Dan Lambert, who both were scoring dynamos during their playing days, have joined the crew headed by Ryan Huska.

Savard, who spent the last two seasons as head coach of the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, will concentrate mainly on the forwards and the power play.

Lambert, an assistant with the Nashville Predators the past four seasons, will concentrate on the defense and penalty kill. Lambert was an assistant coach under Huska for three seasons with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets.

Cail MacLean, goalie coach Jason LaBarbera and video coach Jamie Pringle all are returning. Kirk Muller, associate coach with the now-fired Darryl Sutter, has moved on.

The Flames finished in the bottom half of the league offensively and on the power play last season. They also were among the worst in the league in overtime, one of the myriad reasons they missed the playoffs.

“I know how competitive Marc is from when we played together over three seasons here in Calgary,” GM Craig Conroy said in a release. “Savy has a great offensive mind which will help boost our power play and help drive our offensive game. He’s style was very well known as a player, and he sees the game the same way as a coach.”

After twice winning the OHL scoring title, Savard collected 706 points in 807 NHL games over 13 seasons, including two-plus seasons the Flames. He was Calgary’s top-line center when a knee injury derailed the 2001-02 season, and Conroy moved into the role. He was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers midway through the following season and twice flirted with 100-point seasons before concussions ended his career.

Savard spent one season as an assistant with the St. Louis Blues in 2019-20, and had a hand in their power play finishing third in the league. During his time in Windsor, the Spitfires had the third-ranked power play and then second-ranked.

Lambert was the tournament MVP when the Swift Current Broncos won the 1989 Memorial Cup after racking up 130 points in 69 regular-season and playoff games. The dynamic defenseman played 29 NHL games in a 19-year professional career, and has been working behind benches since retiring from playing following the 2008-09 season.

Lambert took the head coaching reins in Kelowna after Huska moved on, and guided the Rockets to a WHL title in 2015. They lost to the Oshawa Generals in overtime in the Memorial Cup final. Current Flames forward Dillon Dube was on that squad.

“We feel those past relationships will allow us to get up to speed quicker and hit the ground running,” Conroy said. “While Dan will be running our defense, he also provides well balanced experience having run the power play in Nashville the past four years. The focus is keeping the puck out of the net, but Dan’s approach generates an offensive flair from the back end.”