The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2025-26 season by former NHL coaches and assistants who turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher. In this edition, Dan Lambert, former assistant with the Buffalo Sabres, Nashville Predators and Calgary Flames, talks about the importance of NHL teams getting off to a good start and setting themselves up for an opportunity to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

As a coach, I've seen firsthand how different each team's approach is to the start of the season.

Take a team like the Edmonton Oilers, for example. Over the last few years, their starts haven't been ideal but when you're a top-tier team, a rough start isn't necessarily the end of the world.

For teams that are predicted to finish in the

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