# Lane Lambert on his Offseason, Physicality, Playoff Keys

An episode of [Softy & Dick Interviews](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1245866571), 1 Oct 2026, 9:44.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/98a2599f-cd9b-4f2a-9be4-b22c00e585f2/907d6469-cef5-4bda-9f13-b2f100f49399/2745e89c-86c6-4a39-8507-b4d600057701/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=26b16ce4-8fab-44ea-88d4-b2f100f493bc

Kraken head coach Lane Lambert calls in to talk about the offseason, whether the team is going to be more physical and what it will take to make the playoffs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Now back to Softie and Dick, brought to you by
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[0:19] Speaker 2: All right, boys and girls, we're back on a Wednesday
[0:23] Speaker 2: afternoon right here on 93.3 KJRFM. That music, that dramatic
[0:27] Speaker 2: music means one thing and one thing only. The return
[0:31] Speaker 2: of the Kraken. Tomorrow night, 5.30 pregame, 6 o'clock faceoff
[0:35] Speaker 2: from Calgary as the boys open up against the Flames
[0:38] Speaker 2: right here on 93.3 KJR FM. And if the Kraken
[0:41] Speaker 2: are back, that means Wednesdays with Coach Lambert is back too.
[0:46] Speaker 2: And I can't tell if he's more jacked up for
[0:48] Speaker 2: the season or his weekly interview with us on KJR.
[0:52] Speaker 3: Coach, which one is it?
[0:53] Speaker 4: How are you? Man, that is a tough one.
[0:56] Speaker 3: That's a real tough one.
[0:59] Speaker 4: I'd say probably the season, fellas. Sorry.
[1:01] Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I figured you'd say that.
[1:03] Speaker 4: Well, why don't we.
[1:04] Speaker 2: Just start off by just getting a thought from you
[1:06] Speaker 2: on how the offseason went, man, both personally and professionally.
[1:11] Speaker 2: I mean, there was a lot of introspection, I'm sure,
[1:14] Speaker 2: about the club and what was going on behind the scenes.
[1:16] Speaker 2: So tell us about the last few months and how
[1:19] Speaker 2: the offseason went, man.
[1:21] Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been busy for sure.
[1:24] Speaker 4: You know, personally, when there was some downtime, I enjoyed family.
[1:30] Speaker 5: Uh, you know, I love to golf. So I did
[1:31] Speaker 5: that a little bit and, uh, you know, just overall, um, uh,
[1:37] Speaker 5: tried to take it easy and, and, you know, recuperate, I.
[1:40] Speaker 4: Guess, so to speak.
[1:41] Speaker 5: And then, you know, from a professional standpoint, uh, you know,
[1:45] Speaker 5: the organization put in a lot of work over the,
[1:47] Speaker 5: over the summer, uh, in all different areas and aspects. And, uh, Um, so,
[1:53] Speaker 5: you know, there, there was a lot going on. Let's
[1:55] Speaker 5: put it that way.
[1:56] Speaker 4: Oh, that's cool.
[1:57] Speaker 6: And I, and I saw where, uh, you know, the, the,
[1:59] Speaker 6: the boat that your son was serving on, uh, got
[2:01] Speaker 6: a little news over the summer. He was able to
[2:03] Speaker 6: come home and see it. He was one of those
[2:05] Speaker 6: on the, on the Lincoln forever, right?
[2:08] Speaker 4: He was. Yep. Yep. He's part of history, right?
[2:12] Speaker 3: Longest, uh, longest deployment at sea. In history. So it
[2:17] Speaker 3: was nice.
[2:18] Speaker 4: To get him back for sure. You know, just early September.
[2:24] Speaker 4: And he's glad to be back.
[2:26] Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I love it. Congratulations on that, by the way.
[2:28] Speaker 2: That's awesome news. Well, Lane Lambert's with us. And again,
[2:31] Speaker 2: the Kraken opening up tomorrow night against Calgary. 5.30 pregame,
[2:34] Speaker 2: 6 p.m. faceoff right here on 93.3. KJ, RFM, and Coach,
[2:38] Speaker 2: let's talk about the team, right? I mean, on the surface,
[2:41] Speaker 2: it feels like outside of Mackey, it's pretty much in
[2:45] Speaker 2: a lot of ways the same team you had a
[2:47] Speaker 2: year ago. Do you feel that way, or are we
[2:49] Speaker 2: underselling maybe some of these other additions?
[2:54] Speaker 5: No, I think there's been a little bit of change
[2:57] Speaker 5: to our team with Sam Miscavige. Obviously, last year at
[3:01] Speaker 5: this time, we didn't have Bobby McMahon. I know we
[3:03] Speaker 5: finished with him, but we didn't have him for a
[3:05] Speaker 5: full season. So, you know, you're looking forward to getting
[3:10] Speaker 5: Bobby into the fold for 84 games.
[3:12] Speaker 4: Now, guys.
[3:13] Speaker 5: It's 84, not 82. You know, you start the season
[3:18] Speaker 5: with Melanson, whereas he.
[3:19] Speaker 4: Came in a little bit halfway through the year.
[3:21] Speaker 5: You know, we have Curtis Douglas here, who's, you know,
[3:28] Speaker 5: a big kind of rugged guy, which, you know, changes.
[3:31] Speaker 4: The complexion just a little bit.
[3:32] Speaker 3: So there's a few... There's a few.
[3:34] Speaker 5: New faces, certainly. Tolvin is not here. Schwartz is not here.
[3:38] Speaker 5: Those guys are gone. But we feel like we've made
[3:41] Speaker 5: a couple of changes, and we're certainly excited to get
[3:44] Speaker 5: started and see where we stack up and where we are.
[3:49] Speaker 6: Well, with Bobby, I mean, he could have gone elsewhere,
[3:51] Speaker 6: and he chose Seattle. And just talk about what he's
[3:54] Speaker 6: looked like in camp. And has he been here long
[3:57] Speaker 6: enough now where you feel comfortable knowing what the best
[4:00] Speaker 6: way to use him is?
[4:03] Speaker 4: Oh, yeah.
[4:04] Speaker 5: I think, you know, I think he's looked good in camp. Clearly,
[4:08] Speaker 5: you know, he has an element of speed, as does Semiskevich. And,
[4:12] Speaker 5: you know, so from that standpoint, I'm excited about that.
[4:16] Speaker 5: We've made some adjustments and, you know, we're in the
[4:20] Speaker 5: pursuit of playing a little faster.
[4:23] Speaker 3: Even though we talked about playing fast last year.
[4:25] Speaker 4: We're in the pursuit of playing faster than that.
[4:29] Speaker 5: But the biggest thing we're looking for is just consistency
[4:32] Speaker 5: in our game.
[4:33] Speaker 4: We proved last year we could beat anyone. We did.
[4:37] Speaker 4: We were in the playoffs for.
[4:38] Speaker 3: A good chunk of the season.
[4:40] Speaker 5: Failed at the end, but there's that overall consistency over
[4:43] Speaker 5: the 84-game schedule that we're striving for.
[4:48] Speaker 4: You know, a lot of.
[4:49] Speaker 5: That is a mentality, a mindset. So, you know, we're
[4:54] Speaker 5: definitely putting in a lot of work from that standpoint.
[4:57] Speaker 3: Well, Lane Lambert's with us.
[4:58] Speaker 2: And, Lane, it's hard to, you know, look a guy
[5:00] Speaker 2: in the eye and say that you got to get tougher, right?
[5:02] Speaker 2: Because sometimes that's taken almost as an insult. But I
[5:05] Speaker 2: thought the team had to get a little tougher. I
[5:08] Speaker 2: wonder if you agree with that. And I wonder if
[5:10] Speaker 2: a guy named, like Ville, for example, did he make
[5:13] Speaker 2: the team because of his willingness to maybe.
[5:15] Speaker 3: Go out there and maybe throw hands? Well, he's a
[5:20] Speaker 3: big body, you know, and with the departure.
[5:23] Speaker 4: Of Jamie Alexiak on the back.
[5:26] Speaker 3: End, you know, there's some space.
[5:29] Speaker 5: We're looking to get bigger in certain areas.
[5:34] Speaker 3: And, you know, I think that for us, you.
[5:37] Speaker 5: Know, being hard to play against comes in many different ways,
[5:40] Speaker 5: whether it be, you know, faster and more in-your-face type
[5:44] Speaker 5: of hockey or, Which, again, I will repeat, we did
[5:48] Speaker 5: it a lot last year.
[5:50] Speaker 3: We just got to maintain consistency on it. But, you know,
[5:54] Speaker 3: there's many.
[5:55] Speaker 5: Different ways to play a tougher brand of hockey. And certainly,
[5:59] Speaker 5: you know, when we need it and we have the opportunity,
[6:02] Speaker 5: we've added some, you know, some toughness from a physicality
[6:05] Speaker 5: standpoint as well.
[6:07] Speaker 6: You got seven of your first nine on the road,
[6:09] Speaker 6: I mean, including Detroit and D.C. and Philly and Tampa.
[6:13] Speaker 6: I mean, you're traveling a lot. Would you rather hit
[6:16] Speaker 6: that early when you guys are fresh than maybe having
[6:19] Speaker 6: seven of nine in March or April?
[6:23] Speaker 3: Well, you know, you can't pick and choose it.
[6:25] Speaker 4: So, you know, how it is is how it is.
[6:28] Speaker 5: And certainly a big stretch of hockey for our hockey team.
[6:32] Speaker 5: We did the same thing last year.
[6:34] Speaker 4: We came out of it very, very well.
[6:37] Speaker 5: So we have that experience to look back on, and
[6:41] Speaker 5: we've got to make sure that we're ready to go.
[6:42] Speaker 5: And it's a big, big road trip for us. First
[6:46] Speaker 5: of all, right off the hop with Calgary and Edmonton.
[6:48] Speaker 5: But then, like you say, there's another five-game road trip
[6:51] Speaker 5: out east.
[6:52] Speaker 2: Well, why don't you finish this sentence for me? The
[6:55] Speaker 2: Kraken make the playoffs if dot, dot, dot. Kraken miss
[6:59] Speaker 2: the playoffs if dot, dot, dot.
[7:02] Speaker 3: Uh, play our game, play to our identity and be consistent.
[7:06] Speaker 5: And, uh, if we don't do that, um, you know,
[7:09] Speaker 5: I mean, it's going to be a lot harder.
[7:11] Speaker 4: And I think he could say that about every team. Right.
[7:13] Speaker 4: You like the shorter camp. I mean, you're starting really early.
[7:16] Speaker 6: I mean, again, have you ever had a game in
[7:18] Speaker 6: a regular season game on the 1st of October before?
[7:20] Speaker 4: This is crazy.
[7:22] Speaker 5: No, no, last year was the 9th. So this is,
[7:25] Speaker 5: you know what, this shorter camp, it reminds me of.
[7:28] Speaker 4: The bubble training camp.
[7:29] Speaker 5: We had a bubble training camp when I was with
[7:31] Speaker 5: the Islanders, and it was a two-week-long training camp.
[7:36] Speaker 3: I am not mad at the shorter camp.
[7:39] Speaker 5: You know, the one thing that it does do, though,
[7:42] Speaker 5: is the veteran players could only play two games according
[7:45] Speaker 5: to the collective bargaining agreement.
[7:46] Speaker 4: So I expect potentially....
[7:51] Speaker 5: Hockey would be a little bit more sloppy at the start, but,
[7:55] Speaker 5: you know, that just.
[7:55] Speaker 4: Leads to excitement. Not from a coaching perspective, though.
[7:59] Speaker 2: No doubt, no doubt. Well, Lane, before you go, Lane
[8:01] Speaker 2: Lambert with us, crack and start the season Thursday in Calgary.
[8:05] Speaker 2: We mentioned Mackie there at the top, banged up a
[8:07] Speaker 2: little bit. Do we have any idea how long he'll
[8:10] Speaker 2: be out and when you'll get to see him make
[8:12] Speaker 2: his debut?
[8:14] Speaker 4: Yeah, no, we don't.
[8:15] Speaker 5: We're hoping for, you know, certainly hoping for, obviously, as
[8:19] Speaker 5: soon as possible. We'll see what happens here.
[8:22] Speaker 4: In game one.
[8:23] Speaker 2: Yeah, and last question. You mentioned golf over the offseason.
[8:28] Speaker 2: Lowest round you had, where and what was it?
[8:32] Speaker 3: Ooh, uh.
[8:34] Speaker 4: Geez, that's a great question.
[8:37] Speaker 5: I think it was, I shot 71 in Scottsdale at
[8:44] Speaker 5: a course called Papago. So that was the highlight of
[8:50] Speaker 5: the summer, I guess. I haven't shot in the 60s
[8:52] Speaker 5: for about four years. So that's the next goal is
[8:56] Speaker 5: to try and shoot more. uh, somewhere in the sixties
[9:00] Speaker 5: as you get, well, I am in my sixties now.
[9:02] Speaker 3: I'm going to be 62 here right away.
[9:04] Speaker 4: So I love it.
[9:05] Speaker 3: All right.
[9:05] Speaker 2: Well, I was going to ask you, do you think
[9:06] Speaker 2: you're a better golfer than you are a hockey coach
[9:08] Speaker 2: or is it vice versa?
[9:09] Speaker 4: Honestly. Oh, man, I don't know. I don't know about that.
[9:14] Speaker 4: You know what? All I can tell you is I'm
[9:17] Speaker 4: as intense in both aspects. I love it.
[9:19] Speaker 6: He's going to be shooting his age here in a
[9:21] Speaker 6: few years, man.
[9:22] Speaker 2: Well, you still owe us a round, by the way,
[9:24] Speaker 2: so we'll try and sneak that in at some point. But, hey, listen,
[9:27] Speaker 2: best of luck this year. Great to have you back.
[9:29] Speaker 2: Fired up to have you back every Wednesday on the
[9:31] Speaker 2: radio show. Go kick the Flames' ass tomorrow, and let's.
[9:33] Speaker 4: Get going, all right? Sounds good, guys. Thanks.
[9:36] Speaker 2: All right, Lane Lambert with us, head coach of the Kraken,
[9:38] Speaker 2: every Wednesday at 345. We're going to break. Petros joins
[9:41] Speaker 2: next on 93.3 KJRFM.

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