Denny Lambert

Denny Lambert
Born	January 7, 1970 (1970-01-07) (age 41) Wawa, Ontario, Canada
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
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 9, 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.

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. [1]

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	Fired

References

• Soo Greyhounds official web site retrieved 2007-10-28

External links

• Denny Lambert's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database

Persondata
Name	Lambert, Denny
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 7, 1970
Place of birth	Wawa, ON
Date of death
Place of death