Brad Lambert of JYP in Liiga, the top professional men's league in Finland, will file a draft diary for NHL.com this season leading up to the 2022 NHL Draft at Bell Centre in Montreal on July 7-8. The 17-year-old center, a projected first-round selection, has one assist and averages 12:44 in ice time in nine games this season. He scored 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in 46 games for JYP last season and scored four points (one goal, three assists) in seven games for third-place Finland at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship and five assists in five games in a fourth-place finish with Finland at the U-18 Worlds. He is under contract with JYP through this season.
Hello hockey fans:
I'm so glad I'll have an opportunity to keep a draft diary this season for NHL.com. For my first post of the season, I thought I'd provide a little background.
My dad's family was all born in Canada. My grandpa, dad and both his brothers played and coached hockey most of their lives. My Uncle Dale currently coaches the Saskatoon Contacts, AAA Midget team. My cousin, Jimmy, is a senior at the University of Michigan and my Uncle Lane is the associate coach with the New York Islanders, so right now that's my favorite NHL team.
My mom and her family are all Finnish and live in Finland and are also very involved in ice sports. My Aunt Eija played for Finland in the Ringette World Championships and won a bronze medal. My Uncle Jussi coached Finland to a gold medal at the Ringette World Championships.
I've always gone to school and played hockey in Finland except for one full season and a couple of years of spring hockey in Saskatoon, so in 2019 when I was offered a Liiga contract with HIFK when I was 15, it was just the natural thing to do. I wasn't old enough or eligible to play in the Canadian Hockey League then, so being able to play in the top junior league in Finland and Liiga games was a great opportunity.
Playing in Finland also made it more possible to play with Finland's national teams during the season because they have breaks in the league schedules. The previous season, I had played three tournaments with the Under-16 Finnish National Team, three tournaments with the Under-17 team and the Gretzky Hlinka Cup with the Under-18 team. Those were a lot of fun and it was a great experience, so I wanted to be able to continue to do that.
My dad has told me to approach this year the same as every other year and just keep doing what I've been doing, have fun and try to get a bit better every day, and that's my mindset for this season.
My mom has done so many things to help me. I can't list them all, but they range from putting the goalie equipment on when we've needed a goalie, to taking care of my nutrition, often cooking four or five meals a day for me.
We've started the season well at JYP (5-4, three overtime wins). We won our final three preseason games and have points in eight of our 12 regular-season games, including the last five in row so it's been really nice to get back on the winning track after last season (13-34, 4-8 in OT). We have some new Finnish players, three Canadian players, a Sweden-born player and a Czech Republic-born player who weren't here last season. Everyone is working really hard.
With all the new players, the flu running its course over the first three weeks of the regular season, and injuries, we've had a lot of different lineups and line combinations. I've played with all our left wingers so far, but my right wing has always been either Reid Gardiner or Jerry Turkulainen. Both are really good guys, great players and great to play with.
Unfortunately for me, I've been one of the guys with injuries and sickness. I missed most of training camp and the first few preseason games with an injury when I was with the Finland National Junior Team in Plymouth, Michigan, for the World Junior Summer Showcase. I'm working through an injury now and hoping to be back this weekend.
When I'm on the ice, I think my strengths are my skating, puck skills, vision, and hockey IQ. I feel I need to improve every aspect of my game and one way I try to do that is watching current NHL players and learn from what I see them doing. I really like watching guys like Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders), Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers), Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche), Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks) and Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins).
Over the past few years, I've played equal amounts at center and wing. There are things I like better about playing wing, and I think it's a big advantage to be comfortable playing both, but, overall, I prefer center. I feel at center there are more opportunities to use my strengths and have a bigger impact on the game. So far this year, I've played all but one game at center.
It's been my dream to get drafted and play in the NHL for as long as I can remember, but I haven't really been thinking specifically about the 2022 Draft much at all yet. I didn't even know the draft was at the Bell Centre in Montreal until I was told about a week ago. I've never been to the Bell Centre, but I really hope the draft will be normal rather than virtual next summer because it would be pretty special to be drafted there.
Thanks for reading this month and enjoy the start to the NHL season!
Photo credits: Jiri Halttunen, JYP photographer
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2022 NHL Draft Diary: Brad Lambert - NHL.com
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