Tuscon Roadrunners

Movin’ on up? Reports say Cougars GM drawing NHL attention

When the Prince George Cougars landed current General Manager Mark Lamb in June 2018, fans knew they were getting an established and proven member of the hockey community.

Those kind of successful people are always in high demand, and now nearly a year after being signed to a four year contract the rumours are flying around that he may be heading to the NHL.

Lamb told local media they were jumping the gun about conclusions, even telling the Prince George Citizen “There’s not a story on this right now. I’ve had a lot of people contact me about it, because everyone is putting two and two together, and that’s where it’s at.”

Mark Lamb, now an Edmonton Oilers Alumni plays against the Winnipeg Jets in 1987. Lamb later went on to play 235 games with the Oilers including winning a Stanley Cup in 1989-90.

It is believed Lamb, a former Edmonton Oilers player himself, and Stanley Cup Champion with that franchise is being considered to join longtime friend Dave Tippett behind the bench next season possibly as an assistant coach.

A source did tell DUBNetwork that the Oilers or Tippett have not officially reached out to Lamb. Although our source was confident that could easily change in the coming weeks.

Tippett and Lamb have already been together multiple times at the NHL level. The combo shared duties behind the bench of the Dallas Stars from 2002-09, while most recently with Arizona Tippett appointed Mark Lamb as bench boss of the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners during the 2016-17 season.

Even if the GM left town for the big leagues, he’s already accomplished a lot in just a short span despite a rough initial look.

You can’t judge a book by its cover.

The Cougars future looks bright with stockpiles of high calibre prospects up and coming through the system. While it may not appear that Lamb has been a miracle worker for the organization yet, the truth lies in the next handful of seasons when his prospects suit up for the franchise.

The sixth General Manager in franchise history is still just trying to clean up the mess left by his predecessor Todd Harkins, who sold everything but the kitchen sink in a failed playoff run in the 2016-17 campaign.

As long as Lamb sticks around, there’s no doubt that the Cougars will be getting a high quality head coach. With over 400 career regular season games in the NHL over 13 seasons, Lamb has connections that few in the business can replicate.

He wouldn’t be the first member of WHL coaching staff to leave the nest this season for the NHL, most recently Dan Lambert of the Spokane Chiefs left for the Nashville Predators as an assistant coach.