Stay in Your Lane
After a week of speculation, Lambert named the "new voice" to lead Isles
Good Morning, Islanders Country.
🎶Meet the new boss, similar to the old boss.🎶 - The Who, sorta.
Lou Lamoriello said the team needed a “new voice,” but he wasn’t looking for a new system, message, or identity. Those two words, “new voice” had fans and pundits guessing that every coach from Mike Babcock to Paul Maurice was in the running to be the next coach. Maybe even Pittsburgh would part with Mike Sullivan or Vegas would fire Peter DeBoer (that happened). Would Lou be interested? Nope. Just a lot of wasted time, breath, and speculation that was never close to coming to pass. We should have just stayed in our lanes.
“Maybe it wasn’t the right phrase that I should have used,” said Lamoriello at Monday’s press conference. The search wasn’t much of a search at all, but rather a process of affirming that Lane Lambert was up to the job, a belief Barry Trotz had long kept and one Lamoriello agreed with.
“There’s a tremendous difference between an assistant coach and a head coach,” added Lamoriello. “It’s bigger than I think anyone can sometimes understand. And the new voice is here with Lane, and certainly, Lane has different thoughts on different things. Everybody does.”
Ok, you got us this time Lou. We won’t get fooled again.
On Monday, the Islanders GM named Barry Trotz disciple and associate coach Lane Lambert as the 18th head coach in franchise history.
"I had the opportunity to work with Lane over the past four years, which includes spending time with him on a one-on-one basis when he served as the interim Head Coach this past season," Islanders President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello said. "In my opinion, he is the right person to coach this team."
“It’s a good day. It’s something I’ve been preparing for a long time throughout many years in the game and many years as a coach, said Lambert. “There’s a level of excitement, for sure.”
In a very small sample size, the Islanders went 2-1-0 with Lambert assuming head coaching duties and leading practices. The Isles defeated the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in overtime on Jan 1 at UBS Arena after the passing of Trotz’s mother. Later that month with Trotz in COVID-19 protocol, the Isles defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Jan. 13 but then were shutout 2-0 by the Washington Capitals two days later. Still, Lamoriello came away impressed.
“The way Lane operated and the different things that he did during that period of time,” Lamoriello said when asked what stood out. “I prefaced when he became the interim coach to coach as if he were coaching from Day 1 of the season and not just trying to do the same things that were done prior to him. I was extremely impressed with how he handled each and every situation.”
Lambert wasn’t too forthcoming on how the Islanders would be different but did emphasize how he intends to be the same. “The one thing that will never change,” Lambert said, “is that our identity is we want to be hard to play against. That’s just who we are and that will never change from our standpoint.”
A Long Time Coming
Lambert joined Trotz with the Nashville Predators in 2011 after four seasons as the head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals, the Preds’ AHL affiliate. In four years with the Admirals, Lambert went 178-103-11-28 and twice led his team to the West Division and Western Conference championships. He then followed Trotz to Washington and and Long Island.
After each of the last three off-seasons, it has been a pleasant surprise to have Lambert back behind the Islanders bench alongside Trotz. Having previously interviewed for the Colorado Avalanche position in 2016 and the Anaheim Ducks in 2019, Lambert was polishing his head coaching resume for the last several years. It wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when and where.
In a 2019 story for The Athletic, Joshua Cooper collected a lot of great insight on Lambert from Trotz, former players he’s coached, and league executives. I would recommend checking it out. You’ll feel good about the hire if you don’t already.
The status quo remains for current Islanders assistants Jim Hiller and John Gruden along with Piero Greco, the team’s goaltending coach. Lamoriello was non-committal when asked during media availability, re-stating that all were currently under contract. One would think it would be Lambert’s preference to keep as much of the staff intact for continuity and familiarity with the players, something he considers an advantage.
“I think it’s a tremendous advantage, stated Lambert. “I've been here for four years, been working with each individual for that period of time. I think it gives us an advantage to hit the ground running. We certainly have a good relationship … a lot of the players are excited …someone familiar with them coming in as well.”
Proud Barry
One of the payoffs of being a mentor is seeing your mentee succeed on his/her own and achieve their dreams and aspirations. Still, it has to be somewhat strange for Barry Trotz to see Lambert’s big break happen partly at his expense. Although, for Trotz, this is not an unfamiliar occurrence.
“All my assistants I’ve ever had, I want them all to be head coaches. I don’t want them not to be head coaches,” Trotz said back in 2019. “Some of it is timing. Some of it is circumstance. Some of it is perception. In this business, to get a break you need someone to be in your corner and knowing someone. I think Lane has enough people in his corner who he’s worked with, who know him and his success as a head coach and his success as an assistant coach and now as an associate coach. There’s a reason we’ve had success together. He’s a big part of it, for sure.
“He’s got a really tremendous understanding of the game,” Trotz said of Lambert during the 2020 season. “He’s passionate. He’ll listen. I think he’s a demanding teacher, and he is all in on winning. There’s no agendas. You talk about the ultimate team player — that’s Lane. “I am surprised that I still have him and that he is still a part of the staff. I think he’s well overdue — his name will be out there, for sure.”
This isn’t the first time a Barry Trotz assistant has replaced him behind the bench. After winning the 2018 Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals, the team named his assistant Todd Reirden as head coach after Trotz and the team couldn’t come to terms on a new contract. In two seasons, Reirden led the Caps to a .642 winning percentage but failed to make it past the second round, including a loss to Trotz and Lambert’s Islanders in the Toronto bubble.
“Barry and I have worked a long time together and there are so many things that he’s done that I’ve learned from,” Lambert said on Monday. “I’ve been in that role where he’s been the head coach. “And now it flips for me.”
Was this all about Lane Lambert?
A week ago, Lamoriello surprised the hockey world when Barry Trotz, the man most responsible for the turnaround of the organization, was relieved of his duties. From there, the theories ranging from a Mathew Barzal-led “mutiny” to an internal power struggle between Lou and Barry ran wild.
Kevin Kurz in The Athletic:
It seems evident that general manager Lou Lamoriello knew when he announced the Trotz firing last Monday that this was going to be the ultimate outcome, as there’s no way the team could have conducted a thorough head coaching search in just a week’s time.
Still, it seems odd to go to Trotz’s longtime assistant when Lamoriello said the team needed a “new voice” that was different from that of the third-winningest coach in NHL history and who helped the team overachieve in the 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs.
A new theory is that it wasn’t so much about last year as it was next year and beyond. If Barry Trotz was unlikely or at minimum uncertain to coach beyond the 2022-23 season on Long Island or anywhere else, Lamoriello was then faced with potentially losing a prized assistant coach to one of this year’s vacancies.
Among those vacancies were in Detroit. Lambert was considered to be among the candidates to replace Jeff Blashill as Head Coach. Lambert was a teammate of Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman in Detroit from 1983-86. The two lived together as rookies in a riverfront apartment in downtown Detroit.
It is feasible that when posed with the conundrum of losing Lambert this season and likely Trotz next season, Lamoriello decided the best move for the organization for this upcoming year and beyond was to hire the respected long-time assistant with a distinct personality and different temperament than his teacher.
From there it was a Lamoriello/Trotz PR play that was a whole lot more mutual than anyone thought or wanted to believe. Maybe this wasn’t Lou stealing from his own playbook and shaking up things because his gut told him so, but rather it was Lou and Barry coming to an understanding.
Barry wasn’t able to commit beyond this upcoming season and Lou wasn’t willing to let that hurt the organization for years that followed. Again, just a theory, but a certain former Islanders beat writer seems to think it makes sense. Do with it what you will.
What Barry Trotz does or more importantly does not do this year and beyond will go a long way in determining whether there is any proof behind that assertion.
If he is behind the bench in Winnipeg or anywhere else soon, then the narrative will revert to Lou Lamoriello acting on instinct and despite three seasons of success feeling that a change - even a modest one, was required for the team moving forward.
Regardless, before last week’s firing and yesterdays hiring, this off-season was going to be about Lou Lamoriello’s ability to retool and reshape the roster in order to return to contender status. That will have as much impact as any voice, new or old could have on the 2022-23 season.
🏆… AND THE AWARD GOES TO: Defenseman Zdeno Chara was named one of the finalists for the Masterton Memorial Trophy along with Canadiens goalie Carey Price and the Flyers’ Kevin Hayes as voted upon by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.
The trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey. Robin Lehner, Mark Fitzpatrick, and Ed Westfall are Islanders that have all won the award.
🔗 Lane Lambert says Barry Trotz thrilled for him to get Islanders head coach job by Joe Pantorno, AMNY “This promotion had been a long time coming for Lane Lambert. Working for two decades as an assistant coach after a six-year NHL playing career in the 1980s, the 57-year-old has worked at plenty of levels within the North American hockey system.”
🔗 Islanders name Lane Lambert their new head coach by Andrew Gross, Newsday “It took Lamoriello, the team’s president and general manager exactly a week to conclude he didn’t need to go far to find a “new voice” behind the bench after dismissing Trotz on May 9 after four seasons. In addition to four seasons as Trotz’s associate coach with the Islanders, Lambert spent four seasons as Trotz’s assistant with the Capitals – winning the Stanley Cup in 2018 – and first joined Trotz’s staff with the Predators in 2011.”
And we leave you with this ….Matt Martin delivering his remarks about Clark Gillies on Saturday. The Dix Hill Ice Rink was renamed to Clark Gillies Arena to honor the Hall of Famer and Islanders’ Legend.
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