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Cowichan Thunder alumni crack NLL rosters

Tyson Roe, Cam Lumb and Tomas Vaesen
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Tyson Roe lead the charge for England at the 2019 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship in Langley. Roe was named MVP at the 2022 European Box Lacrosse Championships this summer. (Kevin Rothbauer/Citizen file)

Three Cowichan Thunder alumni have cracked National Lacrosse League professional rosters, their teams announced last week.

Cowichan’s Tyson Roe will wear No. 13 for the Las Vegas Desert Dogs during their inaugural season after being named to the expansion squad’s active roster on Dec. 6.

Selected by the Calgary Roughnecks in the second round (16th overall) in the 2014 entry draft, the 6-foot-10 defenceman previously saw playing time with the Vancouver Warriors in nine NLL games in 2018 and 2020 but has also been associated with San Diego Seals. He played for Team England in the 2015 and 2019 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, helping them to a fourth place finish in 2019 in Langley.

Roe, 30, a longtime member of the Western Lacrosse Association’s senior A Nanaimo Timbermen and one of the first players selected to the National Lacrosse League’s expansion Las Vegas Desert Dogs, was also named tournament MVP as he led England to gold at the European Box Lacrosse Championships, which took place in Hannover, Germany on July 30-Aug. 6 earlier this year.

The other two former Cowichan players to crack NLL rosters were Cobble Hill’s Cam Lumb and Duncan’s Tomas Vaesen.

Lumb, a defender, was selected 31st overall in the 2021 NLL entry draft by the San Diego Seals and will make his debut with the pro team wearing No. 11.

“I’ve worn it forever,” Lumb said. “I started wearing it because my brother wore it and I grew up watching him and wanting to be like him.”

Lumb said he’s looking forward to being around his teammates.

“Just to learn from all the great players on this team and just get better every week,” he said. “It’s not every day you get to play against hall of fame guys in practice.”

SEE RELATED: Cowichan Thunder shine in NLL draft

Forward Thomas Vaesen will don No. 61 for the Buffalo Bandits, after being named to their practice squad. Vaesen was the team’s second first-round pick (14th overall) in the 2021 NLL entry draft.

“There’s a group of kids there that are doing really good and I think it’s basically because they had the opportunity to play competitive lacrosse and they kept going,” Cowichan Thunder Lacrosse president Chris Claxton said.



Sarah Simpson

About the Author: Sarah Simpson

I started my time with Black Press Media as an intern, before joining the Citizen in the summer of 2004.
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