Chris Mast Photography

Lambert learning to navigate life in the WHL

Dealing with a roster crunch is something most 16-year-olds experience in the Western Hockey League. For many, it’s the first time they weren’t the best player on the team. It could be the first time that they had been turned down by a team, however temporary it may be. 

But Everett Silvertips prospective left winger Jack Lambert isn’t like most WHLers. He doesn’t come from a hockey hotbed and has been turned down by teams in the past. Both of those reasons are probably why he spent the first few weeks of the season fighting for a spot with the big club.

Born in Virginia, Lambert grew up nearly 200 miles (322 kilometres) above the Arctic Circle in Fairbanks, Ala., since he was eight.

Hockey was readily available for him at a young age, but as he progressed through the sport, Fairbanks lacked the elite programs that other cities further south possesed.

Establishing himself as one of the better players on the AA house league teams playing for the Grizzlies, Lambert thought he was a shoo-in to make the T2 program (the highest program available) for his first year as a bantam in the 2016-17 season.

But the wirey winger was wrong.

“I’m still not sure why I got cut. Maybe my compete wasn’t there and maybe that showed on the ice. I wasn’t happy that I got cut,” said Lambert. “I thought that being in the bottom tier wasn’t a great for my career moving forward.”

Instead, getting cut was one of the best things that happened to him.

Lambert landed with what he still claims as one of the most impactful coaches of his career, Warren Moore.

“We were just as shocked as he was to see him not make Tier 2. Jack had the hands and speed like few other kids had. I thought he was much better than most of the Tier 2 kids,” said Moore.

Throughout the year, Moore challenged the righty. He saw the potential inside, but could tell that he was lacking motivation. 

“Maybe he had some doubts because he was cut from the competitive team, but we all believed in him and tried to give him as much support as possible. He ended up being a dominating player for us, which I think helped his confidence greatly,” said Moore.  

Led by Lambert, Moore’s team went on to capture the state championship that season. 

Riding that momentum into next season, Lambert was content with running it back in Fairbanks and taking another crack at the competitive team, as the town of 32,000 was without a bantam AAA program back then.

Days before tryouts, the head coach from the Anchorage North Stars, a bantam triple-A program, gave Lambert a call.

“We heard that there was this Tier 3 player that was attending Team USA identification camps. We thought, ‘who the hell was this kid and where did he come from?” said former North Stars head coach Barrett Heisten. “I soon began talking with his family and tried to show them that our program was a step in the right direction for his career if they could make everything work away from the rink.”

With that, the next day, Lambert was getting shuttled seven hours south to Anchorage to live with billets for the first time.

“Jackie wasn’t easy on the eyes the first time we saw him. He was raw — a bull in a China shop — but always around the puck. After three days of tryouts, we saw that he was always causing disruption and was making plays. He was doing stuff out there that nobody else was. I knew we needed him on our team,” said Heisten.

Jumping from essentially rec-league hockey to the highest level in the state didn’t bother Lambert. He helped the North Stars set a blistering 32-8-4 record with a plus-166 goal differential.

The only thing that could slow him down was an injury.

Along the way to winning the state championship, Lambert collided with a defender. His left skate got caught on the ice and he slammed into the d-man knee-on-knee. The collision shattered his leg in six spots, ending his season.

At the time of the injury, Lambert had amassed 17 goals, 12 assists and 34 penalty minutes in 42 games. Even with missing the last few weeks of the season, he finished fifth on the team in scoring.

After winning the state title, the North Stars headed south to San Jose, Calif., for Pacific Regionals, where they eventually lost. Lambert didn’t play and missed his chance to perform in marquee games in front of a larger audience.

His inopportune injury, along with being an American citizen and playing in a remote location led to him slip through the 2018 Bantam Draft.

Alaskan-born players are a rare breed in the WHL. According to QuantHockey, since 1979, there have been 29 players from The Last Frontier to suit up in the WHL. Alaska ranks fifth in the States during that time frame for producing WHL players behind Minnesota (81), California (69), Washington (46) and Colorado (39). Currently, the only other Alaskan in the league is Cameron Hausinger, who plays for the Red Deer Rebels.

If Lambert turns into a contributing piece on a playoff roster one day, GMs and scouts who passed on him for fear of him opting to go the college route will be kicking themselves for not doing their homework. If they were concerned about his intentions, all they had to do was ask the kid. 

Lambert was all in on the Canadian Hockey League since the first time he laid eyes on it. Whether it was following the WHL online and on social media or watching Connor McDavid skate with the Erie Otters on TV during the weekend, his mind was made up from the start and never wavered despite having the University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks — a well respected NCAA Division I program — in his backyard. 

“I have always wanted to play in the WHL. During my second year in batnam, all I wanted to do was play hard all year and hopefully catch the eye of a WHL team. Whether if it was the injury or not, I didn’t get drafted and that was upsetting at the time,” said Lambert. “It turned out that not getting drafted was one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

Not giving up on his dreams, Lambert moved somewhere to help get him noticed — right underneath the nose of the Everett Silvertips GM.

“My dad and I reached out to the Everett Junior Silvertips because it was one of the closer programs for us,” said Lambert. “Next thing I know, they invited me down and I ended up getting accepted into the program.”

Turner Stevenson, the Junior Silvertips head coach, was approached for a comment on this feature but he did not respond. According to Lambert, Stevenson played a big role in bringing him down south.

Making the big move easier was the fact that Lambert shacked up with his new bench boss.

Aside from gawking at the photos of Stevenson hoisting the Stanley Cup as a member of the New Jersey Devils in 2003, Lambert said he learned a lot that year spent under the same roof as his coach.

“We constantly talked about systems and I spent a lot of time shooting pucks in his basement and outside. He taught me to be better and to play with more awareness. Basically, he taught me everything I know at this point,” said Lambert.

The Jr. Silvertips are co-managed by the WHL club. Stevenson runs his crew his way, but if he has a player that sticks out, he doesn’t mind picking up the phone and giving the local GM a ring.

“I really didn’t see much of Lambert. Our teams don’t play in the same area too often, so we really went on Turner’s strong recommendation,” said Silvertips GM Garry Davidson. “We had room to list him and the last thing I wanted was another GM to list a guy that was playing in our building.”

Lambert was the top offensive threat with the Jr. ‘Tips that season. In 12 games he piled up six goals and 10 points in the North American Prospects Hockey League. By the time 2019 rolled around, the Silvertips listed him to their program.

That season earned him an invite to training camp with the big club this past August and a few days into camp, Lambert inked a WHL Standard Player Agreement.

“We liked his hands around the net and he’s a young kid with a passion for the game. That contract didn’t guarantee him a spot with our team but it meant that we wanted to keep him around and develop him into a player that we think is going to be a pretty reliable two-way forward in this league one day,” said Davidson.

Now living 2,220 miles (3,541 km) from home, Lambert knows the hard work is only beginning.

“This is where I wanted to play for a long time and everything has worked out up to this point. Now that I’ve gotten this far, I have to continue to get better to make this lineup everyday,” said Lambert.

That’s where it became tricky for the 16-year-old.

Even though Lambert broke camp with the club, the issue was trying to find a permanent spot in the lineup.

Lambert skated in all five preseason games and added a goal to boot, but he only appeared in four of the club’s first eight regular season games.

“I’ve always said that this is where I want to be. Nobody likes sitting out, but it just means I need to work harder to get in the lineup more often,” said Lambert.

The Alaskan is known around the Angels of the Winds Arena as a rink rat. He spends as much time on the ice working on his skill or in the gym trying to pack on some meat to his 5-foot-10 frame.

But sometimes, it’s not always about working harder. The WHL isn’t Tier 3 bantam in small town Alaska. There are responsibilities that come with the contract he signed and he’s learning those as he goes.

A few weeks ago, Lambert was on the bubble to draw into the lineup as the banged up Silvertips visited the Victoria Royals. Lambert was late for the team breakfast and forced the coach’s hand.

“I always tell the guys that they make the lineup. Today, he was late for breakfast. Either you’re 10 minutes early or you’re not in the lineup,” said Silvertips Head Coach Dennis Williams. 

The problem when you’re fighting for a spot on the roster and you sit out during a gritty 3-2 road win is that chances are, you’re going to find yourself in the pressbox the following night — depending on your coach’s level of superstition.

Since being late for his eggs benny, Lambert has yet to return to the lineup.

Lapses in judgement aren’t the only thing blocking Lambert away from ice time.

He’s also competing against older, more experienced players and guys getting shuffled around with other roster moves. 

This past month, Michal Gut, Gianni Fairbrother, Jackson Berezowski and Gage Goncalves have all made their return to the line up. Last week, the Silvertips pulled the trigger on a trade that landed them Cole Fonstad from the reigning Ed Chynoweth Cup champion Prince Albert Raiders.

“There’s no doubt that we see the potential with this kid. It’s a big step for him and not a lot of kids to make the jump to this league at that age. He will get his opportunities to prove himself, but he needs to make the most of them,” said Williams. “A lot of kids go through a learning curve at that age.”

The latest a WHL club can return a 16-year-old to a midget team or a junior club in January 10. If they keep the player past the Jan. 10 deadline, he must play in at least 40 games, barring any injury, according to the WHL. 

To avoid those difficult decisions, the Silvertips returned Lambert to the Junior Silvertips this past week. He will be used as an affiliate player at this point. 

It might not be Lambert’s ideal decision, but perhaps a trip down to midget could serve his development well instead of watching games in his suit. There’s nothing stopping the Silvertips from calling him back up to the WHL for a test drive if they feel the move is warranted. 

He’s shown he has the talent. The National program has noticed. In July, he attended the USA Hockey national development camp in Amherst, New York, where he scored one goal and two assists in five games. If you ask him, he is still driven to make the Hlinka Gretzky team one day. 

Being released by the Silvertips wasn’t the first time Lambert faced adversity in his career. Sure, the WHL is more intense than first-year bantam, but all he is trying to do is play the sport he loves at the highest level. Luckily for him, he has been through the gauntlet before and has past experiences he can lean on.

“It’s a team game but everyone is still battling for spots. That’s nothing new to me — I’ve learned that lesson already. For me, it’s just about competing, working on my development and getting better every day,” said Lambert.

Lambert’s has already scratched and clawed his way onto a roster a few times in the past and gone a long way to see his dream through. There’s no reason a kid with his determination can’t figure out how to do it again.