Daniel Lambert (born January 12, 1970) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player who played 29 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) for the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...

during the 1990–91 and 1991–92 seasons. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1990 to 2009, was mainly spent in the minor leagues and then the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

. He has been an assistant coach of the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

of the NHL since 2019.

Early career

Lambert grew up in the community of St. Malo, in southeastern

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, and played his minor hockey in St. Malo, Steinbach, and Ste. Anne. He played one season of high school hockey in Warroad, Minnesota, before joining the Swift Current Broncos of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

as a 16-year-old in 1986. Midway into his first season with the Broncos, the team bus was involved in a fatal crash that claimed the lives of four Broncos players; Lambert was not on the bus. Two seasons later, he scored 102 points in 57 regular season games. The Broncos went on to win the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

that season; Lambert was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. His 244 career assists stands as a franchise record.

Professional career

Lambert was drafted 106th overall by the

in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. From 1990 to 1992, Lambert split his time between the

Fort Wayne Komets The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team, which currently plays in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In all of North American professional hockey, only the Orig ...

of the International Hockey League,

Halifax Citadels The Halifax Citadels were a professional ice hockey team based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They played in the American Hockey League between 1988 and 1993. They were created by the relocation of the Fredericton Express and filled a void left by th ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

, and Nordiques. He played a total of 29 games for the Nordiques, scoring 15 points. In June 1992, Lambert was traded to the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

and spent the entire 1992-93 season with the

Moncton Hawks The Moncton Hawks were a professional ice hockey team based in Moncton, New Brunswick. They played in the American Hockey League between 1987 and 1994, operating as a minor league affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets. Home games were played at the Mon ...

, their AHL affiliate. Lambert did not play a game in the NHL that season and decided to leave to play in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

after the season ended. He played 13 games there with

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

before returning to North American to play for the Komets in 1993-94. In 1994, Lambert joined the

San Diego Gulls The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team based in San Diego. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Anaheim Ducks. The team plays its home games at Pechanga Arena. History On Jan ...

of the IHL. The team played one season in San Diego before moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

for one season, and finally settled in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

to become the

Long Beach Ice Dogs The Long Beach Ice Dogs were an American professional ice hockey team based in Long Beach, California, at the Long Beach Sports Arena. They played until the end of the 2006–07 ECHL season. History The Ice Dogs trace their origins to the San ...

. During his five seasons with the franchise, Lambert was one of the IHL's premier defenceman, scoring 308 points in 353 games. He was named an all-star four times and received the Governor's Trophy as the league's top defenceman in 1998. He also led all defencemen in scoring twice. Lambert signed a contract with the Kölner Haie of the

in 1999, helping the team win the Spengler Cup that season. After one season in Cologne, he played three with the Krefeld Pinguine, one with the

Hamburg Freezers The Hamburg Freezers were a professional men's ice hockey club from Hamburg, Germany that played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The club announced its withdrawal from the DEL and ceased operations on 24 May 2016 when Anschutz Entertainment Group, ...

, and five with the Hannover Scorpions. Lambert helped lead Krefeld to a DEL championship in 2003. Lambert retired from professional hockey in 2009.

International competition

Lambert had the opportunity to play for Canada on a number of occasions in international competition, most notably at the 1989 World Junior Championships in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

. In 2005, Lambert was named as Team Canada's captain for the Deutschland Cup.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player in 2009, Lambert joined the

Kelowna Rockets The Kelowna Rockets are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Columbia. The team plays in the B.C Division of the Western Hockey League's Western Conference, playing their home games at Prospera Place. The Rockets a ...

organization, first as an assistant coach and then as the head coach. As head coach, he led the Rockets to a runner-up finish at the

2015 Memorial Cup The 2015 Memorial Cup (branded as the 2015 Mastercard Memorial Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a four-team round-robin format tournament that began on 22 May and ended on 31 May, 2015. It was the 97th Memorial Cup championship and determined ...

. He also served as one of Canada's three head coaches for the 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. Lambert was hired as an assistant coach by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

in July 2015. On May 16, 2016, in a reorganization within the Sabres coaching staff, Lambert was assigned head coaching duties of the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Rochester, New York. They are the American Hockey League affiliate of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home g ...

. Lambert was fired as Amerks head coach at the end of the 2016-17 season but was then hired to coach the

Spokane Chiefs The Spokane Chiefs are an American major junior ice hockey team based in Spokane, Washington. The Chiefs play in the U.S. Division of the Western Hockey League's Western Conference, playing home games at Spokane Arena. The Chiefs are two-time M ...

of the

. After two seasons as head coach of the

, Lambert left the organization in June 2019 to become an assistant coach with the

. As of 30 May 2023, Lambert is no longer the assistant coach of the Nashville Predators, after serving as the assistant coach from 2019-2023. Consulting on the team's forward group and working with its power-play units, Nashville went 19.5 percent on the man-advantage during Lambert's tenure, including a 24.4 percent mark in 2021-22, the highest in team history.

Personal

Lambert and his wife, Melanie, have three daughters.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

* WHL East First All-Star Team – 1989 & 1990

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Dan 1970 births Living people Buffalo Sabres coaches Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey defencemen Fort Wayne Komets players Franco-Manitoban people Halifax Citadels players Hamburg Freezers players Hannover Scorpions players HIFK (ice hockey) players Ice hockey people from Winnipeg Kelowna Rockets coaches Kölner Haie players Krefeld Pinguine players Long Beach Ice Dogs (IHL) players Los Angeles Ice Dogs players Moncton Hawks players Nashville Predators coaches People from Eastman Region, Manitoba People from St. Boniface, Winnipeg Quebec Nordiques draft picks Quebec Nordiques players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Rochester Americans coaches San Diego Gulls (IHL) players Spokane Chiefs coaches Swift Current Broncos players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland