Dan Lambert

Lambert grew up in the community of St. Malo, in southeastern Manitoba, 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 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). Lambert recalls playing through the grief that season and making the playoffs as his proudest hockey memory. Two seasons later, he scored an incredible 102 points in just 57 regular-season games. The Broncos went on to win the Memorial Cup that season; Lambert was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. His 244 career assists stand as a franchise record.

Lambert was drafted 106th overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. From 1990 to 1992, Lambert split his time between the Fort Wayne Komets of the International Hockey League, Halifax Citadels of the American Hockey League, 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 and spent the entire 1992-93 season with the Moncton Hawks, their AHL affiliate. Lambert did not play a game in the NHL that season and decided to leave to play in Finland after the season ended. He played only 13 games there before returning to North American to play for the Komets…