MONTREAL — It is a question whether Lane Lambert, fired Saturday as head coach of the Islanders, showed enough promise to merit consideration for another job down the line.

It is no question, however, that if he does become a head coach again, it should be in a lower-profile hockey market.

Lambert’s unpopularity among fans was not just a matter of how the roster was constructed, though there are issues there, or replacing a popular coach in Barry Trotz, which did him no favors.

It is also a product of how Lambert handled his public-facing duties, which turned him into a punching bag for the fan base.