Mentors Matter to Lambert

When Lane Lambert was named the third head coach in Kraken history, the long-time NHL assistant coach and associate head coach called it “a privilege” to serve in those roles. He then swiftly added that to be one of the 32 head coaches in the National Hockey League is “an honor.” That impressive and full measure of gratitude is fueled in significant part by his appreciation for the beloved hockey mentors in Lambert’s NHL journey.

Lambert’s NHL playing days started with future Hall of Famers making indelible first impressions of life and how to comport oneself in the league. Detroit selected him 25th overall at the 1983 NHL Draft, 21 spots after the Red Wings picked Steve Yzerman at No. 4. Lambert and Yzerman became fast friends (“a lot of the guys were married back then, so we struck up that relationship at the draft,” said Lambert). The two 18-year-olds decided to room together, but while searching for a place, the Detroit duo (who scored 59 goals that season, 20 for Lambert) lived, for a month, with veteran player Colin Campbell, now and since 1988, the long-time NHL senior executive vice president of hockey operations. Two seasons later, Campbell was an assistant coach with the Wings.

Detroit’s general manager back then, Jimmy Devallano, took to hosting the two rookies at a local steakhouse every week to make sure they were getting enough good food. Devallano was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010 as a builder, Yzerman as a superstar player in 2009, and Campbell entered last November as a builder. To round out the royalty of Lambert’s early playing days, former Detroit GM and recently named hockey boss for the Los Angeles Kings, Ken Holland, played three games in goal for the 1983-84 Red Wings. Holland was inducted into the Hall as a builder in 2020.

“I watched how Colie [Campbell] transitioned out of the game as a player and the professionalism he took with him, not only as a coach, but then into the league office,” said Lambert in a recent conversation. “You pick up different traits and attributes that you want to bring along in your own – not only career, but just your life. Colie is just a solid human being.”

“Lane’s NHL career as a player was waylaid because we didn’t have a tough team in Detroit during his rookie year and second year,” said Campbell this week from his Toronto office. “Lane did what he could for the team. The style of play in the league demanded toughness from some players back then. Lane had to be tough. He was always fighting out of his weight class.”

Campbell said those early NHL player years now translate as a positive part of Lambert’s makeup and potential as a head coach: “The fact that Lane has the experience of giving everything he had to provide toughness – he was a refreshing Western Hockey League kid, but a skinny little kid. He won the respect of his teammates and coaches. Also, NHL coaches are always better in their second jobs; there are tough things Lane learned the first time around.”

Underscoring an Unintentional Oversight

When meeting the media last Monday, Lambert was asked about people who have helped pave his coaching career. The Kraken coach later realized he didn’t mention an obvious and arguably his most vital mentor, former Nashville, Washington, and New York Islanders coach, Barry Trotz. No worries, we will jump the chronological order to get right to what Lambert wanted to say about Trotz last Monday. The two men were colleagues and friends over 11 NHL seasons, with Lambert his assistant coach for three seasons in Nashville, then four in D.C. (winning the Stanley Cup in 2018) and four more as New York Islanders associate head coach.

When Trotz was not renewed as head coach for the 2022-2023 NYI season, he was nonetheless “thrilled” that Lambert was named to succeed him: “He’s got a tremendous understanding of the game,” Trotz said to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press in 2020. “He’s passionate. He’ll listen. He’s a demanding teacher, and he is all-in on winning. I saw how our young players improved, saw how detailed and prepared they were coming up [referring to when Lambert was head coach at AHL affiliate Milwaukee]. “He really has a good understanding of all facets of the game. He speaks from the heart.”

Considering their 11 seasons together and winning that Cup along with reaching two straight Eastern Conference finals with the Islanders as Lambert moved up to the associate head coach role, the next question begs: What are the Kraken coach’s top three things he learned from Trotz? The new coach handled the sorting and decision-making of the top three lessons in short order.

“One thing is being genuine and being yourself and being honest,” said Lambert. “You always got that out of Barry. Also patience. That's what makes him so good. He has patience.

“The other thing? Well, we can talk about the hockey part of it, the systems, all that stuff. We talked about that all the time. But the big thing is his trust in his staff, his trust in people to do their jobs and give them the opportunity to do their jobs without stepping in.”

Discerning the Differences Among Players

Last Monday, Lambert mentioned Claude Noel, who hired Lambert as assistant coach with AHL Milwaukee for the 2006-07 season, just Lambert’s second year as a pro coach. Back then, AHL teams sported just one assistant to the head coach; Lambert’s duties were important and myriad. Noel coached seven seasons for Columbus and Winnipeg, both as an assistant coach and head coach with both franchises.

“Claude and I sat for hours and discussed hockey, different philosophies, different ways of handling things, said Lambert. “I learned a lot that year from Claude.”

One lesson, for example: “As a young coach, sometimes you think everybody should play the game exactly the way you played the game. It’s not always that way. Every player has value and value in different ways. That was one of the big lessons from Claude. He would say, ‘Not everybody's going to be like you were, Lane. Where's the value of what a player brings, as opposed to what you think a player should bring?’ ”

When Noel was hired away by the Columbus Blue Jackets during the subsequent offseason, he earnestly and enthusiastically endorsed Lambert as his replacement. Lambert noted, “The team never even did an outside search” as he accepted the job.

Lambert and Noel remain close. In fact, when talking with colleague and Kraken Hockey Network analyst Alison Lukan, Lambert was all smiles when Lukan mentioned covering Noel during her past work with the Blue Jackets and The Athletic.

“He's messaged me about five times today already,” said Lambert, laughing, adding the two pals live about a half-hour from each other in Arizona.

Brand-New Experience in Toronto

When Lambert was let go mid-year in the 2023-24 season with a 19-15-11 record, he wasn’t away from the NHL bench for long. Toronto hired 2019 Stanley Cup-winning Craig Berube in late May 2024, and Lambert was hired in early June with the associate head coach title and its broader responsibilities.

“It's 42 years of pro hockey for me now, having played and coached,” said Lambert. “Nonetheless, I didn’t know anybody in Toronto, not one person. That was bizarre to me. Not a trainer, not a coach, especially in Toronto. I would have to think that Barry [Trotz] was instrumental in me getting the job. He wouldn't do that if he didn't believe that. So the conversation was pretty short with ‘Chief’ [Berube]. He asked, ‘Do you want to come to Toronto?’ I asked for a little bit of time to think about it, then soon got back to him to say yes.”