Winnipeg product Carson Lambos has his sights set on a convincing performance at Minnesota Wild training camp this fall.

It was almost a storybook ending for Winnipeg's Carson Lambos this spring.

With his Winnipeg ICE setting new franchise records nearly on the daily, the 20-year-old defenceman saw his club finish the regular season atop the entire CHL for the second-straight year.

Having fallen short in the third round of the 2022 WHL postseason, Winnipeg made it to the WHL Final this past season, but ultimately couldn't find a way to beat the stockpiled Seattle Thunderbirds.

In his final year of eligibility and captaining his hometown team, Lambos came up three wins shy of the league championship and a shot at the Memorial Cup.

"It was tough," Lambos told The Hockey News. "I’ve worked towards it, and not just this one year, but the whole career - three, four years leading up to it. It was a really hard pill to swallow."

"We did a lot of growing from the start to the finish of the year," he added. "Our team didn't always measure our success in terms of wins and losses, just because wins were so frequent. So, more towards the end of the year, we got more comfortable or more confident. We were playing as a team rather than just winning games, doing things the wrong way. We felt like we were doing things the right way going into playoffs."

Although it didn't end up working out, Lambos and the ICE did gain valuable experience over the past two record-setting seasons.

But in mid-June it was announced that the team had been sold and will be playing out of Wenatchee, Washington for the 2023-24 season.

"When I heard that I was definitely a bit sad," Lambos said. "Like, I spent what, a few games in Cranbrook maybe? But my whole junior career has been here in Winnipeg."

He's not wrong.

Although beginning his junior career with the then Kootenay ICE following his time with RINK Hockey Academy, Lambos did only suit up in five games in Cranbrook. The bulk of his 176-game career was spent in Winnipeg.

"We built a lot here," Lambos added. "A lot of players grew their careers because of what we did here in Winnipeg. But to see our dressing room physically getting taken apart and just knowing that there's no more Winnipeg ICE, it’s really sad to see and tough to think that it's over just like that."

Despite his younger mates being forced out of their home, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound blueliner will not need to worry about nailing the spelling of 'Wenatchee' next season, as his focus is on the professional game.

Drafted in the first round (26th overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft by the Minnesota Wild, Lambos will attend training camp this fall, to which his performance will be heavily scrutinized.

"I’m just trying to get stronger and faster going into my first year pro," he said when asked of his summer plans. "Going to training camp in Minnesota, I’m going to do my best and stay there as long as I can, and make it hard for them to send me to Iowa. That's my goal for this year."

A guy that Lambos can thank for helping get him where he currently is is his former head coach James Patrick.

Let go during the purchase process by Wenatchee, Patrick helped bring out and develop certain characteristics of Lambos' game to which will prove beneficial come his professional career.

"I would speak very highly about James," Lambos said of his fellow Winnipegger. "I would definitely vouch for him. I can credit the success of my career to him, coming a long way. I feel like I'm ready to play the pro game because of him."

Patrick went 166-49-8 with the Winnipeg ICE, while the team setup shop in Manitoba. It just so happened that Lambos was there for the ride from Day 1.

"He always has the bigger picture in mind," Lambos said of the 21-year NHL veteran. "He definitely does know better than a lot of us, and he makes sure that we see through to it. For me, personally, that was a big thing."

Now with his junior career in the rearview mirror and training camp situated squarely ahead, Lambos will need to continue his disciplined offseason training regimen, while relying on some of the tricks of the trade picked up along the way.

"He’s just trying to teach me how to be a good, successful pro, even when those things might not make sense to me in junior. But they’re definitely going to help me moving forward. There's so much to him that I am thankful for."