Islanders Hire New Head Coach

 On Monday morning, the New York Islanders announced that Lane Lambert was promoted to their head coach. Lambert will be replacing Barry Trotz, in that role after the verteran coach was fired last week.

#Isles News: The New York Islanders announced today that Lane Lambert has been named Head Coach.

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) May 16, 2022

He had been assistant coach with the Islanders for the past four years. Both he and Trotz had been hired in 2018 where he served as the long-time head coach's assistant. This however, isn't the first time Lambert was among Trotz's assistants, as he became one of his assistants starting back to 2011 when he became an assistant coach in Nashville. 

Lambert also went to Washington when Trotz was hired as their head coach back in 2014 and left with him again in 2018. After 11 years under Trotz's tutelage, the 57-year old will finally have an opportunity to lead a team on his own in the NHL.

Prior to working under Trotz, Lambert was head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals from 2007-2011 before he was promoted to assistant coach of the Nashville Predators. He also coached the Prince George Cougars of the WHL, for a season and a half as he came in to replace former coach Ed Dempsey during the 2003-04 season. 

As a player, Lambert played in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and Quebec Nordiques as a right wing from 1983-89. He then went on to play in Germany and Switzerland before finishing up in the IHL during the 2000-01 campaign.

After having a great mentor and a nice resume in the hockey world, Lambert seems ready for the responsibility of being a head coach in the NHL. It should be interested to see how well he does next season.