Despite having just a few short weeks of training camp, the Warriors reported a smooth integration of the new arrivals, the box lacrosse world can’t stop talking about. In addition to their hot new activations, forward Mic Kelly and defender Nathan Miller, Vancouver scooped up four new free agents from the Calgary pool– Reece Callies, Curtis Dickson, Jessie King and Shane Simpson.
“We can get them to hit the ground running and we don’t have to waste time running through some things,” said Vancouver head coach Curt Malawsky. “Instead of taking three steps back, we’re three steps ahead.”
“[The Warriors] have welcomed us with open arms, there’s so much talent in the dressing room and now we’re just building that chemistry up and getting ready for week one,” said Dickson.
With Reece Callies and Shane Simpson joining the group, the balance of this roster takes a major step forward. pic.twitter.com/JkP0zQPAyB
— Vancouver Warriors (@VanWarriors) November 23, 2025
Though coincidental at best, the preseason changes to the line-up have drawn several comparisons to Malawsky’s 2019 Calgary Championship team. From an outside perspective, it might appear as though he is looking to make lightning strike twice, but as the players now beginning their second tenure under Malawsky’s instruction can attest, there’s no greater strength than familiarity.
“[Malawsky] knows what type of humans they are and has had a front row seat to how talented they are,” said Warriors goaltender Christian Del Bianco. Del Bianco was signed by the Warriors in a landmark trade with the Roughnecks during the 2024 season, now the first of many homecoming signings for Vancouver. “I get the whole joke, ‘the Vancouver Roughnecks,’ that’s fair game, but at the end of the day, it’s six players from that team, there’s another fifteen people on the floor.”
“The ultimate goal is to win a championship and you want as much pedigree in your dressing room as soon,” said Dickson, recalling the impact King made during the Roughnecks’ 2019 postseason. “Anytime you can add guys like that to your roster, I think it’s a no-brainer.”
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In addition to the familiar faces seen between the boards, for the new Warriors, the decision to play under Malawsky was a simple one. In addition to his Hall of Fame status and well-adorned trophy shelf, Malawsky still stands out in the NLL as an intensely well-respected coach and heated competitor.
“No one wants to win as badly as he does,” Dickson said, jokingly ranking his respect for his former coach just below the Warriors’ proximity to his hometown of Port Coquitlam. “He puts the work in, it shows on the floor and the way he’s been able to turn around the Vancouver franchise in the couple of years he’s been there is remarkable.”
In a system described by Warriors’ reporter Lindsey Horsting as an “offense by committee,” requiring a particularly strong chemistry among its committee members, the role of the intersquad scrimmage took a major front seat in Vancouver’s preseason preparations. For a team with so many significant lineup changes made between the Free Agency opening and Opening Weekend, the responsibility to develop this new squad’s chemistry fell equally on every player’s shoulders.
“We put systems in place, we present a culture and we make sure everyone’s accountable to the culture,” Malawsky explained. “But at the end of the day, the team’s got to figure out who they are in the room and where everyone’s going to fit.”
Del Bianco also attested that with the shared weight of the team’s success resting solely on their shoulders, the Warriors have been able to “put aside the ego” and mesh together quickly on both sides of the ball. This common ground, as Malawsky explained, was a driving force in developing the team’s communication on and off the floor, as well as one of the sparks that his more traveled players fully engaged in their roster’s development.
“Some of the older athletes can just punch the clock until game one, just getting through it,” Malawsky said. “But they had a lot of energy, a lot of excitement, and they were really conversing back-and-forth, and that in itself builds good chemistry.”
As one of those well-tread athletes, and now entering his 15th year in the NLL, Dickson’s storied exploits in the League have also afforded him the opportunity to take on a more concrete role as a leader during his second tenure under Malawsky’s all-hands offensive system.
“I’ve been [Malwasky] him a long time and he knows you know the type of leader I am,” said Disckon. “I’m not a huge ‘ra-ra, giving speeches in the dressing room’ kind of guy, I lead more by example and make myself open in the dressing room.”
Originally drafted by the Roughnecks in 2010, Dickson recounted the opportunity to mold himself to the pace of the NLL under several of the League’s finest, including Scott Ranger of the 2009 Championship Roughnecks, and former Vancouver assistant coach and two-time Toronto Rock Champion Kaleb Toth. Dickson credited the strong veteran leadership in his early days in the NLL as one of the major influences in his development as a professional player, and wants the opportunity to do the same for his underclassmen.
“I know how far that goes, having a guy that’s been around that you can lean on and ask questions and that can show the rope, so I take that job pretty seriously,” he said. “I know [Malawsky] is familiar with that aspect of my game and I’m looking forward to building those relationships with the guys.”
Though building the connection between the freshmen and the favorites has always been an imperative part of training camp, Malawsky’s approach has taken that connection a step further. As reported by the Vancouver media team, Warriors newcomer and Calgary holdover Shane Simpson mentioned the themes of sacrifice and “doing greater good for the guy next to you” as the major point of emphasis for Malawsky during the lead-up to the 2025-2026 season.
“We’re a pro sport, but a lot of guys have their other jobs, they’ve got families and they’ve got kids, so they have a lot of things pulling them in other directions,” Malawsky explained. “For us, with a commitment to the organization and the jersey, there’s a sacrifice component that comes with that.”
Under Malawsky’s system of sacrifice, the Warriors have developed a deeper sense of community in the locker room and understanding for their teammates, both under the helmet and behind closed doors. By understanding what the teammate next to you is sacrificing to be at practice, to don the Vancouver black-and-gold on game days, Malawsky explained that his players are able to build a deeper sense of trust and belief in one another, building a more resilient roster.
“We’re still early in that process but we’re slowly getting towards that, the guys are building trust amongst each other and that’s what training camp was all about.”
Does Delbs secretly look like Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon? 🤔 Marcus Klarich seems to think so! pic.twitter.com/mcpdRkWKES
— Vancouver Warriors (@VanWarriors) November 25, 2025
Though the Warriors experienced a tough start to training camp due to several of their offensive players still recovering from injuries, their eyes have only been focused on the journey forward. Their time without several of their key pieces allowed for an emphasis on their defensive presence in the early sessions, further strengthening the all-around performances and chemistry of this new Warriors squad.
“There’s gonna be some growing pains with the younger guys and everything’s not gonna be super polished, but that was the point of the preseason, to get that all ironed out,” Dickson said. “We’re all looking forward to it here and we’re chomping at the bit.”
