2022 NHL Draft Diary: Brad Lambert

Brad Lambert of Pelicans in Liiga, the top professional men's league in Finland, will file a draft diary for NHL.com this season leading up to the 2022 NHL Draft at Bell Centre in Montreal on July 7-8.
The 18-year-old forward, No. 5 in NHL Central Scouting's midterm ranking of International skaters, has scored seven points (three goals, four assists) while averaging 14:25 of ice time in 32 games this season. He signed with Pelicans on Jan. 17 after 24 games with JYP this season. He is under contract with Pelicans through this season.

Hello hockey fans.
My move from JYP to Pelicans happened really fast since I found out one day it was a possibility and a couple of days later I signed. The Pelicans were in a playoff position but had some injuries and were losing forward Jiri Smejkal to the Czech Republic team for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, so they were looking to add a couple of players to help them down the stretch and wanted me to be one of them.
The playoffs have always been my favorite part of the season. We didn't qualify for playoffs last year with JYP, and the year before the playoffs were cancelled because of COVID-19. So when I got the opportunity to increase the chances of playing playoff hockey this year, I wanted to take it.
I grew up playing in the Pelicans organization, so I've played with most of the players here before and everyone I talked with told me good things. The coaches really focus on making each individual better. It's been a great atmosphere and the other players and coaches have really taken me in. I'm excited and looking forward to the rest of the season.
I played center and wing and with different linemates in my opening four games with Pelicans. I've played center the past four games with Miika Roine and Aleks Haatanen. Aleks is fast and skilled and Miika wins a lot of battles and is good in front of the net. Both are very smart and can make good plays. They're really good on the cycle in the offensive zone and have been really good to play with.

In my
January draft diary
, I wrote about having our games in Liiga cancelled after coming back from the World Junior Championship. Unfortunately things got worse as the month went on. There were many games postponed in January and a week was added to the end of the regular season since they ran out of dates to reschedule them. Teams played without any or very few fans, maybe 10-50 in the building, and there were lots of restrictions on players, even those of us who didn't test positive for COVID-19.
In January I had to quarantine for five or six days on three different occasions, so the restrictions have caused a lot of problems for practice time, as well as the games.
It's getting a little better though.
I've always looked forward to watching the Winter Olympics, and this year it'll be even more interesting to watch players I've played or practiced with and against in Finland or at the World Juniors. I think Finland has a really good chance to win gold, so I hope everyone stays healthy and we're able to finish the tournament.
Other than hockey, my favorite events to watch at the Olympics are the downhill skiing, Super-G, moguls, and any other event where Finland or Canada have a good chance at medaling.
Thanks for reading this month. Talk to you again in March.
Photo credit: Tomi Natri, Pelican
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