Dakota Lamb HOF Article

[Shindigs 1,772]

Dakota Lamb - Class of S83

 

Position: Center

Birthplace: Canada

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 185 lbs

Drafted: 10th Overall (Warsaw Predators)

User: @dlamb

 

Career Awards

S74 - Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy

S76 - World Cup Silver

S77 - All-VHL Second Team

S78 - Continental Cup

S78 - World Cup Bronze

S80 - Continental Cup

S80 - World Cup Gold

 

There must always be a Lamb in Warsaw. As their first ever draft pick made in the VHL draft after the team joined as an expansion team in S73. Outside of that first season where Dakota was still honing his skills in the VHLM, that's been a truth for the entirety of that franchise's history. So it's hard to mention one without the other. First as their franchise Center and later as their GM. The two have always been connected. It seems that's fated to be, as after a new generation of Lamb, Vasile, entered the league. A series of trades that started with Dakota being traded to Vancouver in S80 would eventually lead to the Vancouver 1st from that trade being traded up for Chicago's S81 1st round pick. Which yielded one Robert Wilk, who later became a piece in the trade with the New York Americans that brought Dakota's much younger relative, Vasile, in to be the next star of the Predators. A big trade for the franchise that no doubt leaves some mighty big shoes for young Vasile to fill. After all his predecessor will go down in history as one of the most prolific playoff performers of all time. Taking the playoff Assists record away from non other than the legend Scotty Campbell himself. A record that had stood for over 70 seasons at the time. As well as being the franchise point leader of the Predators in both the regular season and the playoffs, and to top it all off the captain who lead the team to their first ever Continental Cup in S78 off the back of an outrageous 34 point playoff performance (that still didn't result in playoff a MVP award, somehow).

 

S72 - Miami Marauders (VHLM)

Regular Season

GP: 72    G: 37    A: 56    P: 93    +/-: -9    SHT: 361    PIM: 22    HIT: 125    SB: 27

Playoffs

GP: 7    G: 7    A: 6    P: 13    +/-: 3    SHT: 33    PIM: 2    HIT: 13    SB: 5

 

Having declared eligibility in time to be drafted for his first season in the league. The 49th Overall pick in the VHLM draft came into the league with little fanfare. But that was soon to change, as Dakota went straight to work and ended the season as Miami's 2nd best scorer after Kosmo Kramerev. This massive impact as a rookie certainly had scouts showing up to more and more Miami games as the season went along. Only to have them salivating by the time Dakota had finished off the playoffs with a massive 13 points in 7 games. Leading to him having his name called at 10th Overall by the Warsaw Predators in the VHL draft that off-season.

 

S73 - Miami Marauders (VHLM)

Regular Season

GP: 72    G: 44    A: 48    P: 92    +/-: 49    SHT: 323    PIM: 52    HIT: 155    SB: 16

Playoffs

GP: 15    G: 4    A: 3    P: 7    +/-: 0    SHT: 43    PIM: 14    HIT: 30    SB: 3

 

After Dakota's amazing first season, I think we all expected him to eclipse the 100 point mark in his 2nd season in the minors. But playing on that stacked Miami team that finished in first meant that he actually dropped back by one point compared to his rookie campaign. He did however score more goals, which I doubt anyone would ever complain about. What may have potentially been more of a concern was that his absolutely elite performance in the post season didn't quite pan out in his sophomore season. As he went from nearly 2 PPG pace to 1/2 PPG pace and sadly the Marauders came up short against Minnesota in the finals. Based on what was to come in the very next season though. I think it's safe to say that Dakota felt he had something to prove coming off this disappointing end to the S73 campaign.

 

S74 - Warsaw Predators (VHL)

Regular Season

GP: 72    G: 43    A: 47    P: 90    +/-: 0    SHT: 413    PIM: 79    HIT: 133    SB: 40

 

This was certainly one way to silence any doubters after the playoff run with the Marauders. An absolutely incredible rookie season that landed him the Stoltzy as the top rookie in that season. And a 40+ goal season to boot, showing that his minor scoring translated pretty much 1:1 to the bigs, which is always a concern with high end offensive talent coming up from the minors. You just never know how projectable their numbers are. But Lamb showed that he had the edge to get it done against the best of the best, and the mental fortitude to do so as a fresh faced rookie. That's something that even a lot of his fellow HOF:ers failed to do in their careers. At this point the sky seemed to be the limit for Dakota and any doubters that may have existed after S73 were left licking their wounds...or were they?

 

S75 - Warsaw Predators (VHL)

Regular Season

GP: 72    G: 25    A: 45    P: 70    +/-: 8    SHT: 379    PIM: 84    HIT: 134    SB: 43

Playoffs

GP: 7    G: 7    A: 6    P: 13    +/-: -7    SHT: 40    PIM: 7    HIT: 20    SB: 1

It would be hard to classify Dakota's 92 point performance in his sophomore season in the VHLM as a "Sophomore slump" though you could certainly make the argument that he had one in the playoffs. So when we headed into S75 and it became apparent that Mr.Lamb wasn't scoring at quite the rate he had been. Some of those doubters got some fuel to their fire, as he fell back by almost 20 goals from his rookie season. That's a very worrying sign, but his Assists were still up there, so the offense was there. But you could see the frustration in his game at not being able to bury the puck like he had been able to every season prior to this campaign. However Warsaw did make a playoff appearance this season. And when they did, the Lamb looked a lot more like a predator all of a sudden. 13 points in 7 games for nearly 2 PPG pace. Back to the exact same numbers as in his rookie VHLM season (7G + 6A). That's the kind of performance that will make just about everyone forget a disappointing regular season. Sadly it wasn't enough to take Warsaw out of the first round, as Malmö would eliminate them in 7 games. But again expectations were high heading into his 3rd season and a quick end to his Sophomore slump looked to be in the cards.

 

S76 - Warsaw Predators (VHL)

Regular Season

GP: 72    G: 25    A: 54    P: 79    +/-: 26    SHT: 332    PIM: 77    HIT: 146    SB: 24

Playoffs

GP: 19    G: 8    A: 13    P: 21    +/-: 0    SHT: 116    PIM: 13    HIT: 37    SB: 9

 

But it just wasn't to be. Yes, it's a bit unfair to call an above PPG season a disappointment. But when you put up 90 points in your rookie season, that does set the bar *very* high. And again Lamb put up 25 goals, same as S74 and that lack of development is somewhat scary. Especially when it's your captain that's struggling to fully play to his potential. But the assists were still there in full force, Lamb adapted his game and was able to still create that offense. Even if he wasn't quite able to finish as much as he'd like himself. Warsaw made another playoff run, and this was a deep one. Dakota wasn't able to put up his inhuman 2 PPG performance, but he was steady at about PPG the entire playoffs. Leading his flock to the finals where they just so happened to come up against the last player I wrote a HOF article for, one Jean Pierre Camus. So that series ended in a 1-4 defeat for Warsaw, as they just couldn't crack that HOF tier goaltending. At this point though, it was pretty clear that Warsaw, lead by Lamb, was heading towards a cup in the near future. Having made it there in a season where their star hadn't quite played to his maximum potential meant that they could do more. We go again!

 

S77 - Warsaw Predators (VHL)

Regular Season

GP: 72    G: 46    A: 58    P: 104    +/-: 23    SHT: 416    PIM: 75    HIT: 163    SB: 22

Playoffs

GP: 12    G: 6    A: 10    P: 16    +/-: 3    SHT: 70    PIM: 4    HIT: 36    SB: 8

 

Well, I guess it was about that time again. Time for the doubters to go lick their wounds as Dakota showed them what's what. 46 Goals, a career high at this point. 58 Assists, also a career high. And finally eclipsing 100 points. This was the kind of season we knew Lamb was capable of from the start. It just took a few seasons to put it all together at the pro level after that massive rush of a rookie season ended. When a Sophomore slump continues in your 3rd season it's very easy start picking up certain labels in the hockey world. But those were all gone at this point. Lamb was the real deal in the regular season again and was awarded with a spot on the All-VHL second team for his efforts, now he just has to keep it up in the playoffs and nothing can stop the predators! Well, as it turns out, that wasn't the case. After going up 3-2 against Helsinki in the Conference finals, a collapse in net by Ajay Krishna in game 6 evened the series up at 3. And the predators then lost in OT Game 7. A tough pill to swallow as Dakota had been amazing with 16 points in 12 games in the post season. They got so close to another appearance in the finals, but it just wasn't to be. This is the kind of loss that gives you determination and purpose though. The kind that will make player like Dakota Lamb double down and push even harder.

 

S78 - Warsaw Predators (VHL)

Regular Season

GP: 72    G: 34    A: 62    P: 96    +/-: 11    SHT: 456    PIM: 91    HIT: 151    SB: 45

Playoffs

GP: 17    G: 10    A: 24    P: 34    +/-: 10    SHT: 117    PIM: 25    HIT: 43    SB: 9

 

So that's just what he did in S78. Yes, his goals did drop down by almost 10, which isn't ideal. But he also set a new career high in Assists with 62. Leading to a big 96 point season, which is absolutely nothing to sneeze at. But the regular season wasn't what it was about this season. One might even suspect Dakota was holding back, to save some energy for the finals appearance that he was robbed of last season. So heading into the post season Lamb was fired up and ready to go, and it showed. As he would put up an absolutely outstanding 10 Goals and 24(!) Assists for 34 points while leading his predators to their first ever cup in franchise history. A cup several seasons in the making at this point. They had been FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY one too many times, and enough was enough. Lamb finally got to raise the Cup over his head and skate over to pass it to his celebrating teammates. A moment that will forever be remembered in Warsaw.

 

S79 - Warsaw Predators (VHL)

Regular Season

GP: 72    G: 44    A: 64    P: 108    +/-: 5    SHT: 497    PIM: 80    HIT: 102    SB: 38

Playoffs

GP: 12    G: 5    A: 12    P: 17    +/-: 1    SHT: 89    PIM: 19    HIT: 16    SB: 4

 

Some player may feel like they have proved all they had to prove at this point in their career. But not Lamb, he wasn't done by a long shot. As he went back to being a 40 Goal scorer in the regular season while also putting up a career high 64 Assists and 108 Points. He also kept living up to his billing as an elite playoff performer with 17 points in 12 games in the post season. Where sadly they again lost to Malmö in 7 to miss out on a chance to go for the back-to-back. Disappointing as it was, this was another season to cement why Dakota was one of the greatest players of his generation. At this point the consistency he had was starting to be a bit uncanny. You knew he would show up in the regular season. You knew he would be one of the best, if not the best, player in the playoffs. He'd overcome the consistency issues that somewhat defined the earlier part of his career. He was a true pro and you knew what you'd get, night in and night out.

 

S80 - Warsaw Predators / Vancouver Wolves (VHL)

Regular Season

WAR GP: 46    G: 29    A: 32    P: 61   +/-: 17   SHT: 316   PIM: 42   HIT: 70   SB: 47

VAN GP: 27    G: 20    A: 21    P: 41    +/-: 13    SHT: 202    PIM: 4    HIT: 7    SB: 14

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TOT GP: 73   G: 49   A: 53   P: 102   +/-: 30   SHT: 518   PIM: 46   HIT: 77   SB: 61

 

Playoffs

VAN GP: 16    G: 7    A: 14    P: 21    +/-: 1    SHT: 113    PIM: 0    HIT: 5    SB: 3

 

Heading into his final season before retirement it looked like Dakota would retire a predator. Like I said, there must always be a Lamb in Warsaw... But at this point he had already taken up the GM role with the team, despite still playing. And he knew what had to be done, for the best of the franchise. He knew that if he didn't trade himself away he'd get stuck in a situation where his beloved predators would head into a retool without the picks to do so. So he pulled the trigger on a trade to the contending Wolves in Vancouver, followed by a quick session of brain washing by management there to make him forget how to pass (amazing what you can do with hypnosis these days). Which lead to him putting up an outstanding 20 goals in his 27 regular season games with Vancouver. Leading to his new highest Goal season, with 49 in 73 games. As the trade did get timed in such a way that he got to play an extra game. This ended up being his 3rd 100+ point season in the last 4 seasons, a truly magnificent feat. It didn't end in the playoffs either, the Wolves were just getting ready to start their reign of terror on the league. With Lamb being a known elite playoff performer he was the perfect piece to trade for and popped off with a huge 21 point playoffs. Once again getting to raise the Cup, bittersweet as it may have felt not doing it with Warsaw. It was still one hell of a way to end a career. Hard to beat raising the Cup being the last thing you do on the ice before retiring, is it not?

 

Dakota Lamb will forever go down as THE captain of the Warsaw Predators, the first player every picked by them. The first captain to raise the cup for them. And for the foreseeable future, their GM. Now all that's left for Dakota's legacy is to win a cup as the GM of Warsaw. Maybe even with his young relative Vasile as the Captain? Only time will tell.

 

Career Stats

Regular Season

GP: 505    G: 266    A: 383    P: 649    +/-: 103    SHT: 3011    PIM: 532    HIT: 906    SB: 273    PPG: 1.29

 

Playoffs

GP: 83    G: 43    A: 79    P: 122    +/-: 8    SHT: 545    PIM: 68    HIT: 157    SB: 34    PPG: 1.47

 

 

Congratulations on a great career @dlamb and I hope you manage to get a Cup as GM with my Bratislava boys @Girts and @Scurvy to complete the Lamb legacy.

[fromtheinside 1,291]

nicely done Shindigs, and congrats to Lamber, a great career for Dakota!