The Richmond Sockeyes lost more than a playoff game when they bowed out to the Delta Ice Hawks Sunday night.
Head coach Judd Lambert announced his resignation moments after his team dropped a 2-1 decision to the Ice Hawks in Ladner.
His five-year run behind the Richmond bench was nothing short of superb. He led the team to a pair of PIJHL titles and a Cyclone Taylor Cup championship, as well as the Keystone Cup as Western Canadian champions in 2009.
Lambert admitted he nearly stepped down at the end of last season when the Sockeyes won the PIJHL title. Instead, he returned for one final campaign and guided Richmond to the league's best record before being upset by the Ice Hawks in the conference finals. He was also named PIJHL coach-of-the-year for the second straight season.
His decision was based upon spending more time with his young family and his frustration with how the league operates which he did not wish to elaborate on.
"There are too many things out of my control that I'm not happy about," he said. "It's the structure of the league and B.C.
Hockey. Combine that with my family growing up and me wanting to be there more.
"It's just not worth the time commitment anymore. The only thing that was enjoyable to me was being in that dressing room and working with those players. It has nothing to do with wins or losses and obviously we won way more than we lost. It also had nothing to do with this series and season.
My decision was made long time ago."
Lambert was a homegrown star goaltender for the team in the early 1990s before playing collegiately in the U.S. and being drafted by the New Jersey Devils. He spent a number of years in the minors.
A new coach suddenly is at the top of the list of the Sockeyes off-season shopping list. A possible candidate is Lambert's longtime assistant Greg Harding who has served as a head coach in the PIJHL before.
