March 26th, 2010 – by Norrin Rad – Thunder Reporter
Langley Thunder is preparing for the 2010 season. This is what you can expect.

Coaching staff.
• No changes here. Randy Delmonico, John Wilson and Shaun Springett all return with a years experience coaching together. 2009 saw this group of coaches learn from each other and learn how to coach together. They learnt pretty darn quick getting Coach of the Year awards for the league, and the BC Lacrosse Association.

Players – some retirements, some draft picks, some trades. Some not announce able.

Retirements – only confirmed retirement is long time Thunder scoring leader Rob Buchan.

Draft Picks –
• Brett Mydske – taken third (3rd) overall in the WLA Draft.
• Other draft picks
• Mitch Dibblee (3rd round -19th overall),
• Cam Appels (4th round – 26th overall),
• Craig Smith (5th round – 33rd overall),
• Curtis Callard (6th round 40th overall),
• Sean Messenger (7th round – 47th overall),
• Lindsay Flynn (8th round (54th overall),
all hope to take the step from Junior to the WLA.

Trades
• Langley shipped drafted player Matthew Yager to the Victoria Shamrocks in exchange for 3rd year goaltender Aaron Bold. Aaron is playing for the Rochester Nighthawks of the NLL.
• Langley also acquired a goal scorer Jordan Weir from the Victoria Shamrocks. Jordan was drafted by Victoria with the 2nd pick of the 3rd round of the WLA draft.

Acquisitions
• SHHHH! They aren’t complete – check back for more info.

Returnees
• Pretty much the entire Thunder line-up is expected back. However as this young group gets notoriety they begin to have other commitments (like Garrett Billings playing for Team Canada and the July World Championships in
England).

Thunder players in the NLL - 11
Garrett Billings and Stephan Leblanc (Toronto Rock) are considered the top two (2) rookies in the league. These two have provided the spark to a rejuvenated Rock team. Check out article on NLL Insider here

Mike Grimes (Washington Stealth) had an injury and a suspension that has kept him out of a couple of games. This stalwart defender is entering his third year with the Thunder.

Rob Van Beek (Calgary Roughnecks) was traded in the off-season from Philadelphia. Missed some games due to injury but has played well when called upon.

Brett Mydske (Edmonton Rush) has stepped in well as a rookie defender. Brett is learning quickly how to play against men.

Kevin Crosswell & Alex Turner (Minnesota Swarm) Croz is sharing goaltending duties with Nick Patterson (Victoria WLA) and Alex now just getting in to the lineup.

Aaron Bold (Rochester Nighthawks) – as a backup to Pat O’Toole he has taken Defender of the week honors leading the Nighthawks to a win.

John Lintz (Edmonton Rush) recently signed with his hometown Rush and expects to be an important defender in a much improved Rush team.

Joe Vetere (Calgary Roughnecks) has yet to see regular season action with his hometown Roughnecks but is gaining valuable experience with the team.

Matt Wilson (Colorado Mammoth) is presently on injured list and has yet to see regular season action.

Players at NCAA Schools - 2
Kyle Belton (Stony Brook) has registered 11 points so far this season

Jamie Lincoln (Hofstra) has registered 30 points in 5 games so far this season

Things are looking good for the Thunder who plays its 1st home game Wednesday May 12th