Vancouver’s NLL Team Announces New Lacrosse Operations Roles

Vancouver, B.C. (July 12, 2018) – Vancouver’s new National Lacrosse League team added more British Columbia talent to its management and coaching staff today. Ken Thomas has been appointed Assistant General Manager, Rory MacDade and Clayton Richardson have been named Assistant Coaches and Dan Perreault Assistant Video Coach. The new lacrosse management and coaching staffs are now complete with the previous appointments of Dan Richardson as General Manager and Chris Gill as Head Coach.

“I am excited to have such a strong leadership group with deep roots in the local lacrosse community and with decades of coaching and management experience at the highest levels,” said Dan Richardson. “With the appointment of Ken, Rory, Clayton and Dan to our staff, Chris and I are confident that our newly assembled team will bring the great lacrosse fans of Vancouver an entertaining team they can be proud of.”

Thomas joins the new Vancouver franchise after having previously served as Assistant General Manager with the New Westminster Sr Salmonbellies under Dan Richardson. A member of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Thomas had a decorated playing career that included a Mann Cup in 2001 and a top ten finish in WLA scoring in five seasons.

MacDade joins the new Vancouver franchise from the New Westminster Sr Salmonbellies where he served as Head Coach in 2018. He was also a member of the Minnesota Swarm coaching staff in 2015 and coached the Burnaby Lakers for another four seasons. In his new role, MacDade will be responsible for the team’s offensive schemes.

Richardson joins the new Vancouver franchise after having served as Assistant General Manager and defensive coach of the Stealth for three seasons (2014-16). He helped the New Westminster Salmonbellies capture the WLA Championship four times as a player and also appeared in four Mann Cup Championships. In his new role, Richardson will be responsible for the team’s defensive schemes.

In addition to their coaching responsibilities, both Richardson and Head Coach Chris Gill are also first responders in the City of Vancouver as Richardson is a member of the Vancouver Police while Gill is a member of the Vancouver Fire department.

Perreault joins the new Vancouver franchise as Assistant Video Coach. He previously served as Head Coach of the Stealth from 2014 to 2016 and was an Assistant Coach with the club for two seasons prior to that. A member of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Perreault had a decorated career that included more than 500 points over 10 WLA seasons as well as two Minto Cups.