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time with the Bonnyville Pontiacs of the Alberta Junior Hockey League into an athletic scholarship at Princeton, where he graduated with an economic degree in 2001. For his senior thesis at Princeton, Lamb examined professional sports labour markets for restricted and unrestricted free agents, focusing on the NHL. After his brief skate in the professional ranks, Lamb returned to the Alberta Foothills and became the AJHL's academic adviser, a position he held until taking over the CJHL's top job. He created the "Guide for College Bound Hockey Players," which is used by the AJHL, the British Columbia Hockey League, and individual junior teams and minor hockey associations across the country to help prospects pre- pare for the move up to university play. Lamb deals mostly with tax matters at his firm. "Tax law, like hockey, requires creativity, presence of mind, and keeping your head up, all qualities Kirk has in abun- dance," says Burnet Duckworth senior tax partner John Brussa. "When things occa- sionally get contentious, you also have to be willing to drop your gloves." Lamb comes to the commissioner's post armed with a clear idea of what was needed because he had been involved in the league's business already. When he joined Burnet Duckworth, he also took on the role of legal counsel for the AJHL, advising its board on business, operation- al, and legal matters; discipline expansion; relocation; and change in ownership. He says his two primary responsibilities now are to formulate a policy to unite the orga- nization and to promote the CJHL to vari- ous third parties, namely Hockey Canada, the NHL, the media, and potential parents and players. He's also drafting a constitu- tion to replace one he says may not have been a legal document and which he hopes will provide structure to the league. "[The CJHL] truly represents the country from coast to coast, from British Columbia to the tip of Prince Edward Island. There are approximately 140 com- munities with teams. We have to present ourselves as one entity. My job is to create consensus within the group so when we go to our stakeholders we speak to them within one voice." The fact Lamb has both a hockey and legal mind made him the obvious choice, ntitled-3 1 says Ontario Junior Hockey League com- missioner Marty Savoy, a member of the search committee. "He needs to be a per- son who can evaluate the CJHL's needs and make good decisions to make sure we're moving forward. It can't just be legal, because you need a person who knows junior hockey and where it needs to go to. The fact that he played in the CJHL gives him that knowledge. The fact that he was already involved meant that he was already committed to junior hockey." Lamb has already discovered his day job helps with his volunteer job. "Even though you may not on a day-to-day basis be using your strict legal knowledge, I think you do draw upon your experiences and your background and education in helping groups come to the right decisions." One of the right decisions the CJHL made, it seems, was putting the fate of its league in Lamb's hands. Practice Management LexisNexis® PCLaw® Accounting software that SPEAKS LEGALESE. PCLaw® billing and accounting software combines what you need to track your time and money all in one system — from time and billing to trust accounting, cheque writing, financial statements, client identification and verification, automatic backup, offline file management, advanced reporting tools and more. Best of all, it's easy to use and ready to go to work instantly. Download and Try PCLaw for FREE* For more information, call 1-800-328-2898 or visit www.lexisnexis.ca/pclaw. * Download PCLaw free for 30 days. Certain conditions apply. LexisNexis and the Knowledge Burst logo are registered trademarks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used under licence. PCLaw is a registered trademark of LexisNexis Practice Management Systems Inc. © 2011 LexisNexis Canada Inc. All rights reserved. www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com M AY 2011 25 12/9/10 4:12:40 PM