Tom Lawson (born August 15, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He has since served as a goaltending coach at St. Andrew's College in Aurora, Ontario.
Playing career
Born in Whitby, Ontario, Lawson attending Henry Street High School and played junior hockey for the Markham Waxers 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 of the United Hockey League and made his American Hockey League debut in a single contest with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.
In the 2002–03 season, Lawson was the starting goaltender for the Fort Wayne Komets 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.
Lawson was assigned to the Avalanche's AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears 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.
In the 2006–07 season, Lawson embarked on pursuing a European career and signed a one-year deal with Lukko Rauma in the Finnish SM-liiga. He then moved to Russia, signing as the starting goaltender for the 2007–08 season with CSKA Moscow (the "Red Army Team") of the Russian Superleague. Becoming the first Canadian to feature in goal for the Red Army, Lawson led the RSL in wins, shutouts and games played. Nearing the end of the 2009–10, on January 26, 2010, he moved to Sweden to finish his professional career with Leksands IF of the second tier HockeyAllsvenskan.
Personal
Lawson has a wife and three kids, and resides in Aurora, Ontario. Post playing career he became a fire-fighter for the town of Ajax, Ontario while owning and running a development hockey program, Lawson Goaltending Hockey School.
Career statistics
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:75%"
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! align="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! align="center" rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! align="center" colspan="9" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" | Regular season
! align="center" rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! align="center" colspan="8" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" | Playoffs
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Season
! Team
! League
! GP
! W
! L
! T/OT
! MIN
! GA
! SO
! GAA
! SV%
! GP
! W
! L
! MIN
! GA
! SO
! GAA
! SV%
|- ALIGN="center"
| 1998–99
| Markham Waxers
| OPJHL
| 32
| 19
| 10
| 2
| 1793
| 101
| 0
| 3.38
| .908
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1999–00
| Bowling Green State U.
| CCHA
| 3
| 0
| 3
| 0
| 173
| 14
| 0
| 4.86
| .865
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- ALIGN="center"
| 2000–01
| Knoxville Speed
| UHL
| 35
| 16
| 16
| 2
| 2002
| 116
| 0
| 3.48
| .899
| 1
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2000–01
| Cincinnati Mighty Ducks
| AHL
| 1
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 23
| 1
| 0
| 2.58
| .900
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- ALIGN="center"
| 2001–02
| Anchorage Aces
| WCHL
| 1
| 1
| 0
| 0
| 54
| 2
| 0
| 2.22
| .949
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2002–03
| Fort Wayne Komets
| UHL
| 56
| 29
| 15
| 10
| 3178
| 106
| 7
| 2.00
| .917
| 12
| 11
| 1
| 750
| 21
| 2
| 1.68
| .935
|- ALIGN="center"
| 2003–04
| Hershey Bears
| AHL
| 32
| 13
| 12
| 2
| 1693
| 65
| 4
| 2.30
| .932
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2003–04
| Reading Royals
| ECHL
| 2
| 0
| 2
| 0
| 120
| 10
| 0
| 5.02
| .833
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- ALIGN="center"
| 2004–05
| Hershey Bears
| AHL
| 27
| 10
| 14
| 0
| 1478
| 70
| 2
| 2.84
| .914
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2005–06
| San Diego Gulls
| ECHL
| 30
| 14
| 14
| 2
| 1751
| 84
| 2
| 2.88
| .909
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- ALIGN="center"
| 2005–06
| Lowell Lock Monsters
| AHL
| 7
| 1
| 3
| 1
| 367
| 20
| 0
| 3.27
| .893
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2006–07
| Lukko
| SM-l
| 29
| 13
| 11
| 5
| 1717
| 87
| 1
| 3.04
| .914
| 3
| 1
| 2
| 176
| 8
| 0
| 2.73
| .904
|- ALIGN="center"
| 2007–08
| CSKA Moscow
| RSL
| 52
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 114
| 6
| 2.22
| .918
| 6
| —
| —
| —
| 14
| 1
| 2.64
| .919
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2008–09
| HC Sibir Novosibirsk
| KHL
| 37
| 13
| 19
| 4
| 2162
| 95
| 2
| 2.64
| .902
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- ALIGN="center"
| 2009–10
| HC Sibir Novosibirsk
| KHL
| 22
| 4
| 13
| 3
| 1125
| 68
| 1
| 3.63
| .874
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2009–10
| Leksands IF
| Allsv
| 7
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 2.77
| .897
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" align="center" | AHL totals
! 67
! 24
! 29
! 3
! 3561
! 156
! 6
! 2.62
! .920
! —
! —
! —
! —
! —
! —
! —
! —
|}
Awards and honours
{| class="wikitable"
! Award
! Year
!
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
| colspan="3" | UHL
|-
| Best Goaltender
| 2002–03
|
|-
| First All-Star Team
| 2002–03
|
|-
| Playoff MVP
| 2002–03
|
|-
| Champion (Fort Wayne Komets)
| 2002–03
|