Unexpected gift – Lambert living out special time in Seattle

Brad Lambert is enjoying his time with the Thunderbirds.

Brad Lambert initially took reassignment from the hockey’s professional level to the major junior ranks like most would – as a gut punch.

Lambert, who was born in Lahti, Finland, started the season with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. He put up two goals and one assist in 14 games with the Moose and was held pointless in his final 10 outings with that squad.

The 19-year-old forward proceeded to join Finland’s squad for world juniors, which were jointly held in Halifax, N.S., and Moncton, N.B. Lambert, who stands 6-feet and weighs 183 pounds, had one goal in five games as Finland bowed out falling in a quarter-final 3-2 to Sweden.

Upon returning from world juniors, the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets, who are the parent club for the Moose, assigned Lambert to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. The Jets had selected Lambert in the first round and 30^th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. Lambert’s WHL rights were originally held by the Saskatoon Blades, and the Blades dealt Lambert’s right to the Thunderbirds on June 20, 2022.

With the Thunderbirds, Lambert was playing on a team that topped the Western Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-11-1-2 record. The U.S. Division champions were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Seattle’s 54 wins and standings points total of 111 points are new regular season club records.

Shifting from right wing back to his nature centre position, Lambert took off with the Thunderbirds putting up offensive numbers that showed why he was a first NHL Entry Draft selection. In 26 games with the Thunderbirds, Lambert piled up 17 goals and 21 assists to go with a plus-27 rating in the plus-minus department.

As the Thunderbirds marched through the WHL Playoffs posting a 16-3 record to capture the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions, Lambert posted six goals and 20 assists to go with a plus-13 rating in 17 post-season appearances. He missed the Thunderbirds last two games of their first round sweep of the Kelowna Rockets due to illness.

The Thunderbirds are set to open play at the Memorial Cup tournament that determines a CHL champion on Saturday against the OHL champion Peterborough Petes at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, B.C., at 3 p.m. local time. Kamloops is hosting this year’s Memorial Cup tournament and the host Blazers open game action tonight taking on the QMJHL champion Quebec Remparts at 6 p.m. local time.

Brad Lambert has six goals and 20 assists in 17 post-season games.

Lambert said playing with the Thunderbirds has been a good thing.

“We haven’t lost a series yet, so it has been perfect,” said Lambert, with a chuckle. “We’re looking to win it here.

“Yeah, I was disappointed, but I’m just making the most out of the opportunity. It is a great team here we have and a great group of guys. I’ve had a lot of fun.”

Lambert found he had joined a Seattle side where the rest of the team accepted him right away. After making the WHL Championship Series in 2021-22 and falling to the Edmonton Oil Kings in six games, the Thunderbirds were aiming to go all the way this season. He originally played right wing on a line with two star players in Jared Davidson at centre and Kyle Crnkovic on left-wing.

The Thunderbirds made another addition helping increase Lambert’s comfort level with the team. Before the WHL’s trade deadline on January 10, the Thunderbirds acquired the WHL rights to forward Dylan Guenther, who helped the Oil Kings with the WHL title in 2022.

Guenther, who turned 20-years-old in April, started the 2022-23 campaign with the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. He appeared in 33 regular season contests with the Coyotes putting up six goals and nine assists and played games with the club to January 28.

The Coyotes allowed Guenther to play for Canada at this past world juniors, and he recorded seven goals and three assists in seven games. In Canada’s 3-2 overtime win in the gold medal game against Czechia played on January 5, 2023 in Halifax, Guenther had two goals including the winner in extra time.

On February 5, the Coyotes assigned Guenther to the Thunderbirds. Guenther made his debut with Seattle on February 10 in a 6-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels at the Accesso ShoWare Centre in Kent, Wash.

Brad Lambert had 38 points in 26 regular season games with Seattle.

He started the contest on a newly created line where he was on right wing, with Lambert at centre and Reid Schaefer, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers, on left wing. The Thunderbirds have kept that unit together ever since.

“I’ve got two great shots on my wings,” said Lambert, who father, Ross, played with the Blades in 1982-83. “I just use my playmaking to get them the puck.

“They’re doing a good job of finishing.”

Lambert found he had good chemistry playing with Guenther and Schaefer and added both wingers bring different dynamics to the table.

“I know when I give him (Guenther) the puck I’m going to get it back, or he is going to create something,” said Lambert. “Just the give and goes and playing together it harder for the other team to stop.

“Reido (Reid Schaefer) is great in front of the net. He has a big body. He is great on the forecheck and a fast skater too.

“It has been a good line.”

Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette has enjoyed having Lambert as part of the Thunderbirds. The bench boss said the young forward has surprised the Seattle coaching staff with how well rounded he has been in all parts of the game.

“He (Lambert) has been great for us,” said O’Dette. “Obviously, he is a highly skilled player.

Brad Lambert loves his teammates with the Thunderbirds.

“He really integrated himself well with our team right away. He was proud to be a T-bird. He is a great skater and dynamic player.

“He also competes and plays in the hard areas. That was a pleasant surprise for us. Obviously, we knew of him, but now that we’ve had him for a while here, he is a much more complete player than what we thought.”

O’Dette said Lambert rolled during the regular season with the Thunderbirds and has continued that roll in the post-season even with opposing clubs keying more on him and his line.

“He (Lambert) has picked up in the post-season right where he left off in the regular season,” said O’Dette. “He has been real good.

“Obviously, he is probably keyed on a little bit more in the playoffs. He has handled that real well. The height and physicality of the playoffs hasn’t bothered him at all.

“He has been really good for us.”

Lambert said the best about the Thunderbirds is he found he joined a group of good players, who are characters who have character. He enjoys coming to the rink, because he knows something fun will happen along with work getting done on the ice.

He has enjoyed playing with all his teammates on the Thunderbirds including the likes of Guenther, Schaefer, Davidson, Crnkovic, Thomas Milic, Luke Prokop, Nolan Allan, Colton Dach, Lucas Ciona, Jordan Gustafson, Kevin Korchinski, Jeremy Hanzel and Nico Myatovic.

Like himself, Guenther, Prokop, Allan, Crnkovic and Dach were all acquired via trades by the Thunderbirds since the club fell in the 2022 WHL final. Lambert said it has been cool to see the newcomers and the existing core of players come together.

“You wouldn’t know this team has been put together kind of throughout the season,” said Lambert. “You would think we have been together for many years.

Brad Lambert hopes to enjoy some good time at the Memorial Cup.

“Everyone is great and close with each other, so it is nice.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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“Willo” says she won’t be the sole reason for Huskies success

Kaitlin Willoughby, left, and Cassidy Hendricks talk during a break.

    Kaitlin Willoughby believes her teammates might surprise a few people in the U Sports ranks this season.

    The captain of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team believes she won’t be the only reason for any success her club has in the 2017-18 campaign. The 22-year-old Prince Albert product, who is in her fifth and final season of eligibility, is confident she is leading a capable group.

    Last season, the Huskies posted a 15-10-3 record to finish fourth in the Canada West Conference, swept away their provincial rivals the U of Regina Cougars 2-0 in a best-of-three first round series and fell 3-1 in a series deciding Game 3 in a Canada West semifinal series against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.

    A notion went around the Canada West women’s hockey ranks that the Huskies got that far because of Willoughby and a goalie – namely now graduated veteran Cassidy Hendricks. Basically, U of S’s formula for winning kind of resembled the NHL’s Calgary Flames during the era when they had power forward Jarome Iginla and goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff.

    The joke around Calgary’s NHL franchise at that time was that Kiprusoff would made 46 saves, Iginla would pop in a couple of goals and the Flames would win 2-1.

    The Huskies have respect for being sound defensively to tinker with the formula a bit. Instead, it was Hendricks would make 27 to 30 saves, Willoughby would pop in a couple of goals and the Huskies would win 2-1.

    U of S opens the regular season on Friday hosting the U of Regina Cougars at 7 p.m. at the ancient Rutherford Rink.

    When asked about the notion that the Huskies rely on her for offence and couldn’t win if she didn’t score, Willoughby didn’t seem too happy with the query but took time to calmly jump to the defence of her teammates.

    “I wouldn’t say that they rely on me,” said Willoughby, who topped the Huskies in scoring with 11 goals and 10 assists in 24 regular season games in 2016-17. “Obviously, I am the one who scored the most goals last year.

    “I don’t think that really matters, because we each have like our own things that we are good at. There are some girls that are like super good penalty killers, and our penalty kill was like the top of the whole (U Sports). I feel like everyone has their own role in that way.

    “I’m happy in my role too. I’m really happy to just score goals. I’m hoping that this year our lines click and we have a couple more people that have really good (offensive seasons) this year.”

    In checking that statistics, Willoughby was pretty bang on. The Huskies had the fifth best penalty kill in all of U Sports women’s hockey posting an impressive 91.1 per cent efficiency rate last season.

    Judging by the returning players the Huskies have on defence like Leah Bohlken, Morgan Willoughby, who is Kaitlin’s younger sister, Kayla Kirwan, Kira Bannatyne and Emma Nutter, U of S should be as sound defensively and on the penalty this season as they were last season.

    While Hendricks is no longer around to tend goal, the Huskies have three solid options to turn to in net in Chloe Marshall, Jasey Book and Jessica Vance.

    Offensively, the Huskies look to get a boost from their returning forwards who seem a little faster and stronger in the pre-season due to the work they put into off-season training. Sophomore forward Bailee Bourassa, who was a star in midget AAA with her hometown Weyburn Gold Wings, looks stronger and more confident.

    The same can be said of fellow second-year forwards Emily Upgang and Danielle Nogier and third-year forwards Shyan Elias, Rachel Lundberg and Courtney Cormack. Third-year feisty forward Brooklyn Haubrich will arguably be the hardest player to battle against in the U Sports ranks.

Kaitlin Willoughby jets up ice for the Huskies.

    The Huskies still have fifth-year forwards Kennedy Harris and Kori Herner, who bring key intangibles to the team. Harris knows how to ensure the team doesn’t get too high or too low and stays grounded, while Herner is viewed as the greatest teammate and the upbeat presence that lifts the atmosphere in the dressing room.

    Rookies Chloe Smith and Abby Shirley come to the Huskies with reputations as high-end scorers from the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League. As the captain of the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats, Smith finished third in last season’s SFMAAAHL scoring race with 18 goals and 31 assists in 28 regular season games. Shirley was 10^th in league scoring piling up 14 goals and 18 assists in 25 regular season games.

    While the Huskies have a couple of really skilled first-year forwards, the captain wanted to ensure there were no unrealistic expectations for the newcomers.

    “It is a lot of just getting used to (U Sports),” said Kaitlin Willoughby. “It is a lot different for the rookies coming in.

    “Hopefully, lots of people can take that transition really well. I hope that is the case for our team this year.”

    The Huskies roster is also getting a boost from women’s hockey transfers from the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference ranks. Forward Chelsea Broadhead, who is in her fourth year of eligibility, comes to the Huskies from the Olds College Broncos and defenders Madison Colbow and Teagan Borbandy join the U of S side coming from the SAIT Trojans and Red Deer College Queens respectively. Colbow and Borbandy are both entering their third seasons of eligibility.

    The trio should help the Huskies in every aspect of their game.

    Willoughby, who is in nursing, is focused on helping her team bond together.

    “If I look back on the year and I know that everyone had fun that everyone felt as if we were a family, I think that is the number one thing for success I think is when you can click and get along,” said Willoughby.

Kaitlin Willoughby expects her team to enjoy a number of goals.

    In what will be her first and only season as captain, Willoughby wants to emulate her first captain with the Huskies in Cami Wooster. The two made an impressive offensive duo on the Huskies top line in their lone campaign together in 2013-14. They played a key part in helping the Huskies win their first Canada West title and a bronze medal at the U Sports nationals in that campaign.

    Wooster was a huge positive influence on the players on the Huskies Canada West championship winning team and made countless big plays to help the Huskies win games. At the moment, Wooster goes down as the best and most influential captain in the history of the Huskies women’s team.

    “She is so calm on the ice, and she just like always knows where to be,” said Willoughby. “She is an unreal player. I miss her.”

    After the Huskies posted a 5-1 record in the pre-season, Willoughby is looking forward to getting going for real.

    “I’m just happy to get my fifth year started and see what it can bring,” she said.

Smith still thinks about missed SFMAAAHL title chance

Chloe Smith in action for the Wildcats in March of 2016.

    Chloe Smith still thinks about the title chance that got away from her Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats.

    Smith, who is an 18-year-old rookie forward with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, was playing our her 16-year-old season of midget AAA eligibility with the Wildcats in 2015-16, when they advanced to the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series. The Wildcats posted a 19-6-3 regular season record but were underdogs in the best-of-series to the Saskatoon Stars, who were the defending league champions and topped with SFMAAAHL with a 24-4 record.

    The Wildcats traveled to Saskatoon and took Game 1 of the series 4-3. The Stars took the next two contest by respective 1-0 and 2-1 scores.

    In Game 4 of the series in Swift Current, the Wildcats jumped out to a 3-1 lead in front of a raucous home crowd at the Fairview Arena with 4:39 to play in the second period. For a short time, it appeared the two teams would have to play a series deciding Game 5 in Saskatoon.

    The Stars proceeded to rally cutting the Wildcats edge to 3-2 heading into the second intermission. Saskatoon netted the equalizer to force a 3-3 tie in the third and 14-year-old forward Grace Shirley fired home the game and series winning goal at the 4:08 mark of overtime to give the Stars a 4-3 win in the game and a 3-1 victory in the series.

    For Smith, the result of that series still stings.

    “It still bugs me,” said Smith. “That was a good series.

    “All of us actually kind of talk about it nowadays too. It still bugs us, because we had a good team that year.

    “We were wanting to go a little further than we did. Things happened. Saskatoon, they stepped it up in that third period, so it was good for them.”

    Smith is playing on the Huskies with defender Kayla Kirwan and goalie Jasey Book, who were also teammates on the Wildcats club that fell in the 2016 SFMAAAHL title series. Besides the team success, Smith had a breakout year offensively on a personal front netting 13 goals and 19 assists in 26 regular season games to finish fourth in the SFMAAAHL scoring race in 2015-16.

    She became the Wildcats captain in her final campaign with the team last season. Overall, the SFMAAAHL title loss doesn’t dampen the memories Smith made with her hometown squad.

    “We have a great organization,” said Smith. “Terry Pavely is the head coach, and he has done good job with that organization. It is one of the ones where lots of girls come to and they leave happy.

    “It is a great group of girls, a good city. I loved my years with the Wildcats. They were awesome.”

Nogier suffers serious injury with Moose

Nelson Nogier suffered a serious shoulder injury.

    Saskatoon area product Nelson Nogier could miss most of his second season of professional hockey with a serious injury.

    On Wednesday, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun reported Nogier suffered a shoulder injury playing for the Manitoba Moose in an American Hockey League pre-season game in Grand Forks, N.D., last Friday. The 21-year-old, who is a graduate of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades and Red Deer Rebels, suffered the injury on his first shift in the Moose’s 3-2 victory over the Iowa Wild.

    It is expected that Nogier will need surgery.

    Last season as a rookie professional, Nogier, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 191 points, recorded two goals, 11 assists and a minus-five rating in the plus-minus department in 60 games with the Moose. He finished the 2016-17 campaign with a 10-game call up to the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets, where he posted a minus-one rating as the Jets posted an 8-2 record over that stretch.

    Nogier played 235 career regular season games for the Blades and Rebels from 2011 to 2016 recording eight goals, 42 assists, 196 penalty minutes and an even rating in the plus-minus department.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Nogier took big strides as a rookie pro with Moose and Jets

Nelson Nogier signs autographs as part of a charity event in Saskatoon.

    Nelson Nogier couldn’t ask for much more in his rookie year of professional hockey.

    The 21-year-old defensive defenceman spent most of rookie campaign playing for the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose appearing in 60 games collecting two goals, 11 assists and a minus-five rating in the plus-minus department. The Moose are the farm club of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets
    On March 21, the Saskatoon product made his NHL debut with the Jets, and he helped them pull out a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.

    Nogier appeared in 10 games with the Jets posting a minus-one rating.

    “It was an unreal experience,” said Nogier, who played four complete seasons in the WHL with his hometown Saskatoon Blades and Red Deer Rebels. “The learning curve and the development process was sped up so much throughout those 10 games that I was up there.

    “I was able to soak in and learn a lot to try and set myself up here for a good summer.”

    Nogier experienced his first big highlight in his first professional regular season game. On Oct. 14, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa, Nogier fired home his first goal helping the visiting Moose down the Iowa Wild 3-1. He scored by keeping things simple.

    “Ryan Olsen passed me the puck out of the corner, and I just pulled it to the middle and threw it on net,” said Nogier. “Sure enough, it went in.”

Nelson Nogier during his days with the Saskatoon Blades.

    Like he did during his time with the Blades and Rebels, Nogier, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 191 pounds, focused on being solid in his own zone and becoming more consistent in his defensive game. He performed well enough that near the end of the campaign he received the break all rookie pros hope for.

    As injuries piled up on the Jets blue-line, Nogier received his call up to the big club.
    The night before he made his NHL debut he called his father, Pat, and mother, Lori, to tell them about the news. Both were able to make it to Winnipeg to see their son play his first regular season game with the big club and also receive some air time on TSN’s broadcast.

    The son will never forget that day.

    “It was amazing,” said Nogier. “For me, that was a dream come true, but to be able to share that with my parents who have had such an important role in my life, it is something that I will cherish forever.

    “Everything about it was kind of a whirlwind. It happened so fast. You’re kind of star struck at times, but you just try to be comfortable about it and go out there and play your game.”

    Another memory wasn’t a total highlight, but it was something Nogier laughs about afterwards. In the second period of a Jets 4-3 home ice overtime victory over the Anaheim Ducks, Nogier had his first NHL fight taking on veteran heavyweight forward Jared Boll.

    Boll nailed Jets defenceman Mark Stuart with a high elbow, and Nogier came to the aid of his defence partner. The fight was a short one as Nogier walked into a right hand punch from Boll and went down.

    The rookie came out of that tussle unscathed despite being schooled by the veteran.

    “That was a tough situation,” said Nogier. “It was kind of a high hit on my D-partner, and I tried to step in for him and show the boys that I would be willing to step in for him when I needed to.

Nelson Nogier during his days with the Red Deer Rebels.

    “I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into, but I just tried to hang in there for as long as I could, even though it was a pretty short while.”

    Overall, Nogier was satisfied with his first professional season.

    “It was a good development year for me,” said Nogier, who collected eight goals, 42 assists and 196 minutes in penalties in 235 career regular season games in the WHL. “I came in there from making the jump from junior into the AHL.

    “I did real well and kind of got comfortable with the role I was set to play with the Moose and then obviously earn myself an opportunity where I could try and show that I could play at the next level as well. I just tried to make the most of the opportunity and go from there.”

    Now the hope will be to have a longer stay at the NHL level in his second season of professional hockey.

    “You don’t want to get your hopes to, too, high,” said Nogier. “You never know what you are going to get thrown at when you come into camp.

    “It is just going to be a matter of me making sure I have a strong summer of training here and setting myself up to be in a good position when I come into camp.”

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com. It should be noted that Nogier is my young cousin, and I do cherish the opportunities to write a piece like this.