Denny Lambert
| Denny Lambert | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 7, 1970 Wawa, ON, CAN |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb) |
| Position | Left Wing |
| Shot | Left |
| Played for | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Ottawa Senators Nashville Predators Atlanta Thrashers |
| NHL Draft | Undrafted |
| Playing career | 1991–2003 |
Denny Lambert (born January 7, 1970) is a former professional Canadian ice hockey player. Lambert played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (twice), Ottawa Senators, Nashville Predators and the Atlanta Thrashers between 1995 and 2002. He has also coached the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League from 2008–2011. He is now a First Nations Police Officer with the Anishinabek Police Service. Denny graduated from the Ontario Police College in November 2012. <http://www.batchewana.ca/election/dlambert.html> <http://www.saultstar.com/2012/01/18/lambert-passing-on-wisdom>
Playing career
Throughout his NHL career, Lambert's primary role was that of an enforcer. Undrafted, he was signed as a free agent by the expansion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 1993. He would ultimately play in only 46 games with Anaheim, spending the majority of his time in their farm system. On July 29, 1996, he was signed by the Ottawa Senators, and was a regular in Ottawa lineup for two full seasons before being claimed by the Nashville Predators in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft. After one full season in Nashville, Lambert was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers for Randy Robitaille in 1999. He would return for a second stint in Anaheim in 2001–02 before officially announcing his retirement on July 11, 2003.
He would play in 487 regular season NHL games, scoring 27 goals and 66 assists for 93 points, while racking up 1391 penalty minutes. After retiring, he accepted a position as assistant coach with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League, where he began his career as a junior player. On June 24, 2008, Lambert was named head coach of the Greyhounds, replacing Craig Hartsburg who signed to coach the NHL's Ottawa Senators.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1988–89 | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds | OHL | 61 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 203 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1989–90 | Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds | OHL | 61 | 23 | 29 | 52 | 276 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1990–91 | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds | OHL | 59 | 28 | 39 | 67 | 169 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 48 | ||
| 1991–92 | San Diego Gulls | IHL | 71 | 17 | 14 | 31 | 229 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 1992–93 | St. Thomas Wildcats | COHL | 5 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1992–93 | San Diego Gulls | IHL | 56 | 18 | 12 | 30 | 277 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 44 | ||
| 1993–94 | San Diego Gulls | IHL | 79 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 314 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 45 | ||
| 1994–95 | San Diego Gulls | IHL | 75 | 25 | 35 | 60 | 222 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1994–95 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1995–96 | Baltimore Bandits | AHL | 44 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 126 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 39 | ||
| 1995–96 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 33 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 55 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1996–97 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 80 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 217 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 1997–98 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 72 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 250 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | ||
| 1998–99 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 76 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 218 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1999–00 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 73 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 219 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2000–01 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 67 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 215 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2001–02 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 73 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 213 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2002–03 | Milwaukee Admirals | AHL | 39 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 132 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 42 | ||
| OHL totals | 181 | 65 | 83 | 148 | 648 | 14 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 35 | ||||
| COHL totals | 5 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| IHL totals | 281 | 73 | 75 | 148 | 1042 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 99 | ||||
| AHL totals | 83 | 26 | 40 | 66 | 258 | 18 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 81 | ||||
| NHL totals | 487 | 27 | 66 | 93 | 1391 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 28 | ||||
Coaching career
Lambert became the assistant coach of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the 2004–05 season, and remained in that position with the club until the summer of 2008, when Greyhounds head coach Craig Hartsburg left the team to become the head coach of the Ottawa Senators. The Greyhounds promoted Lambert to the head coaching position.
In his first season as the head coach, Sault Ste. Marie failed to qualify for the post-season, as the young, rebuilding club finished with their fewest point total since the 1994–95 season, and finished in last place in the OHL.
The Greyhounds rebounded in Lambert's second season with the team, with the help of assistant coach Mike Stapleton, as the club with an impressive record of 36–27–1–4 to finish with 77 points, and fifth place in the Western Conference. The Greyhounds faced the Plymouth Whalers in the conference quarter-finals, and lost the series in five games.
Lambert returned to Sault Ste. Marie for a third season in 2010–11, however, the team fell back into last place in the Western Conference, and on January 11, 2011, the Greyhounds relieved Lambert from his duties. Sault Ste. Marie had a record of 14–21–5–0 at the time of his firing.
Coaching record
| Team | Year | Regular season | Post season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | OTL | SL | Pts | Finish | Result | ||
| SOO | 2008–09 | 68 | 19 | 45 | 2 | 2 | 42 | 5th in West | Missed playoffs |
| SOO | 2009–10 | 68 | 36 | 27 | 1 | 4 | 77 | 3rd in West | Lost in First round |
| SOO | 2010–11 | 40 | 14 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 33 | 5th in West | Replaced mid-season |
References
- Soo Greyhounds official web site retrieved 2007-10-28