Tom Lawson (born August 15, 1979) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

. He has since served as a goaltending coach at St. Andrew's College in

Aurora, Ontario Aurora ( 2021 population: 62,057) is a town in central York Region in the Greater Toronto Area, within the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located north of the City of Richmond Hill and is partially situated on the Oak Ridge ...

Playing career

Born in Whitby, Ontario, Lawson attending Henry Street High School and played junior hockey for the

Markham Waxers The Markham Waxers were an Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) Junior "A" ice hockey team based in Markham, Ontario, Canada. The Waxers name is still used by the Markham Waxers minor hockey club with the Eastern AAA Hockey League, a sub league o ...

hockey organization in 1998-99. He then joined Bowling Green State in Ohio and played for the hockey team on a scholarship as a freshman during the 1999–2000 season. He turned professional the next year with the

Knoxville Speed The Knoxville Speed was a minor professional ice hockey team in the United Hockey League (UHL) based in Knoxville, Tennessee with home games at the James White Civic Coliseum. They were formerly the Madison Monsters, before team owner Andrew Wi ...

of the

United Hockey League The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the Unite ...

and made his

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

debut in a single contest with the

Cincinnati Mighty Ducks The Cincinnati Mighty Ducks were a professional ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were members of the American Hockey League, and played their home games at the Cincinnati Gardens. Throughout their existence they were the primary m ...

. In the 2002–03 season, Lawson was the starting goaltender for the

Fort Wayne Komets The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team, which currently plays in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In all of North American professional hockey, only the Orig ...

and recorded a banner year in claiming the UHL Championship. He was selected as the league's best goaltender, playoff MVP and earning a place in the UHL First-All-Star Team. In the off-season, Lawson was signed to an NHL contract by the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

. Lawson was assigned to the Avalanche's AHL affiliate, the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Bears have played in the American Hockey League (AHL) since the 1938–39 season, making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still ...

for the 2003–04 season. He appeared in a career high 32 AHL games for 13 wins and 2.30 goals against average. He remained with the Avalanche affiliations for the next two seasons with the Bears and the

Lowell Lock Monsters Lowell may refer to: Places United States * Lowell, Arkansas * Lowell, Florida * Lowell, Idaho * Lowell, Indiana * Lowell, Maine * Lowell, Massachusetts ** Lowell National Historical Park ** Lowell (MBTA station) ** Lowell Ordnance Pla ...

. In the 2006–07 season, Lawson embarked on pursuing a European career and signed a one-year deal with

Lukko Rauma Rauman Lukko (Finnish for "lock") is a Finnish sports club based in Rauma, Finland, best known for its men's professional ice hockey team. The club was founded as Rauma Woodin Lukko in 1936. The representative team currently plays in the Finni ...

in the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

. He then moved to Russia, signing as the starting goaltender for the 2007–08 season with

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

(the "Red Army Team") of the

Russian Superleague The Russian Superleague (, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was considered the second-best league in the world, after the Nation ...

. Becoming the first Canadian to feature in goal for the Red Army, Lawson led the RSL in wins, shutouts and games played. After his successful stint with the Red Army, Lawson signed a two-year contract with Sibir Novosibirsk for the inaugural season of the new top level Russian tier, the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

(KHL). Lawson appeared in 59 games in the KHL over his two seasons with Novosibirsk before he was released by the club on January 15, 2010. Nearing the end of the 2009–10, on January 26, 2010, he moved to Sweden to finish his professional career with

Leksands IF Leksands Idrottsförening is a Swedish professional ice hockey team from the town of Leksand in the region of Dalarna. The team plays in the top-tier league, Swedish Hockey League (SHL), after succeeding through the 2019 SHL qualifiers and thus ...

of the second tier

HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league, and the second-highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system, after the Swedish Hockey League, SHL. Since the 2009–10 season, t ...

Personal

Lawson has a wife and three kids, and resides in

. Post playing career he became a fire-fighter for the town of

Ajax, Ontario Ajax (; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 population: 126,666) is a waterfront town in Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham Region in Southern Ontario, Canada, located in the eastern part of the Greater Toronto Area. The town is named for , a Royal N ...

while owning and running a development hockey program, Lawson Goaltending Hockey School. He serves as the goalie coach to St. Andrew's College Varsity hockey team in Aurora. His brother-in-law is former professional hockey player, Ryan Murphy. He is also a part of the Murphy Hockey School program.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Tom 1979 births Living people Anchorage Aces players Bowling Green Falcons men's ice hockey players Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Cincinnati Mighty Ducks players HC CSKA Moscow players Fort Wayne Komets players Hershey Bears players Knoxville Speed players Leksands IF players Lowell Lock Monsters players Lukko players Reading Royals players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States San Diego Gulls (ECHL) players HC Sibir Novosibirsk players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland