Vancouver Warriors name two New West players to 2024-25 roster

New Westminster lacrosse fans traveling to Rogers Arena for the new season’s Vancouver Warrior games will see two familiar faces on the floor.

Kevin Crowley and Brett Mydske have been named to the team’s opening roster for the 2024-25 National Lacrosse League (NLL) season, which begins Friday, November 29, on the road against Colorado.

Vancouver’s first home game is scheduled for Friday, December 13th against the Rochester Nighthawks.

Crowley, 36, is entering his 12th year in the professional ranks – his second with his hometown Warriors.

Last year, the forward scored 14 goals and 32 assists in 18 regular season games for a total of 46 points. He added three goals and three assists in a playoff game.

During his NLL career, Crowley also played for Philadelphia, Toronto, New England and San Diego.

Over the course of 12 years, he scored 351 goals, 470 assists and 821 points in 183 games, collected 725 free balls, racked up 81 penalty minutes and averaged nearly 4.5 points per game.

Crowley, a graduate of New Westminster Secondary, became the first of only three players in lacrosse history to be drafted first overall in both the NLL and MLL/PLL drafts.

He was selected first overall in the 2012 NLL Draft by Philadelphia and in the 2011 MLL Draft by the former Hamilton Nationals.

In 2011, Crowley played for the New West Senior “A” Salmonbellies and led the WLA playoffs with 39 points.

The 36-year-old Mydske will take the floor at Rogers Arena for the third straight season in hopes of bolstering the Warriors’ back end.

The 13-year-old defenseman, who serves as team captain, scored 10 points, including nine assists, and grabbed 110 loose balls in 18 games last season.

In 206 NLL games, Mydske has 62 helpers and 99 points with three different teams – Edmonton, Saskatchewan and Vancouver.

Mydske re-signed with Vancouver on October 10 and said he believed in the direction of the franchise.

“I can’t imagine putting on another jersey for the rest of my career,” Mydske said in a press release.

“The goal is to be back home in Vancouver and pick up where we left off last year.

“You kind of have to go through the trenches together to see what you’ve got, and we definitely started building in the second half of the season last year.”

Off the ground, Mydske is a firefighter in Burnaby.

The Vancouver Warriors finished 12th last year with a record of 8-10.