Jimmy’s hockey journey helps to explain their reaction. He didn’t hit his growth spurt until Grade 10. He’s always had plenty of skill, but it’s difficult to forecast stardom for a 130-pound teenager.
Now he stands 6-0 and weighs 187 pounds, with a scoring touch that has become more prominent with each passing year.
“This is my first Hockey Canada camp, so I’m super excited to be here,” Lombardi said. “Everything is so pro. Getting right into it, all the meetings. The staff and players are great. I’ve never gotten the invite before. This is probably the most important camp. Saved the best for last.”
Lombardi’s path to the final Team Canada roster for the 2027 World Juniors in Alberta could be as a smart, dependable center with strong penalty-killing credentials.
“He’s an intriguing player for us,” said Alan Millar, the Team Canada general manager. “He’s got good energy, good speed, has really good puck skills, obviously had a really good year in Flint. He’s a guy who hasn’t spent a lot of time in our programs. This is an opportunity for us to get to know him better, and for him to understand what the expectations are to put the jersey on.”
Throughout his hockey development, Jimmy benefited from the wise perspective of parents who work as physical education teachers. He played on the same local team, with his best friends, for seven seasons of youth hockey.
“He was never on the top team,” Lorrie said. “It never felt like he was chasing other teams. He was really happy where he [was] and trying to win with the team he was on.”
Lombardi relies on a network of coaches, familiar and new, to broaden his skillset. Since being drafted by the Kings, Lombardi has worked on the art of winning draws with Jarret Stoll, the two-time Stanley Cup winner who serves on the team’s player development staff.
“At the start of the year, my face-offs weren’t as good,” Lombardi said. “Then he came in, gave me a couple pointers about draws, and I started winning a lot more.”
Lombardi was only 5 years old when he began working with Rob Desveaux, the renowned skills coach who heads the 3 Zones Hockey School in Ajax, Ontario. One summer day in 2016, Jimmy and Eddie were delighted by an unexpected visitor to the rink: the Memorial Cup, in the possession of then-London Knights forward Mitch Marner.
Over the years, Marner has become a favorite player of the Lombardi family; last summer, Desveaux decided that Jimmy earned the right to work with Marner in a small-group session.
A very small group: Desveaux, Marner, and Lombardi.
John made sure to capture some video of the trio on the ice together.
“That was pretty special,” John said.