Colorado Mammoth Announce 2024-25 Team Awards

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NLL Colorado Mammoth

Colorado Mammoth Announce 2024-25 Team Awards

April 29, 2025 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Colorado Mammoth News Release


DENVER - The Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) today announced this year's Team Awards from its 2024-25 season.

With the organization beginning the annual tradition during its 2014-15 campaign, these individual awards recognize players and team personnel for their standout efforts on the turf and within the squad's locker room.

The John Grant Jr. Award, which honors the team's top-performing offensive player, was first introduced following the 2018-19 season.

The Rookie of the Year Award, which salutes the team's top-performing rookie player, was introduced this year, following the 2024-25 season.

Award winners for the 2024-25 NLL campaign include:

2025 Jay Jalbert Award Recipient (Teammate of the Year): Robert Hope

Representing the fifth time Colorado's team captain Robert Hope has received said honors, it's only right the veteran defenseman got the nod after steering the ship once more this season. As one of the team's top-performing defensemen once again, he continued to set the tone with his verbal communication while leading by example via his on-turf commitment. Quite literally an on-floor coach, he's regularly mixing into strategic conversation alongside Head Coach Pat Coyle and Defensive Coordinator Dan MacRae. While he'll make a great coach one day at whatever level of the game he chooses to lend his mentorship abilities and leadership qualities, he remains one of the league's most reliable and respected talents. Ending the season with a new career-high 155 loose balls, Hope added eight points (0g, 8a), 16 caused turnovers and 19 blocked shots to another productive campaign as part of the team's established core of defensemen.

Past Winners Include: (2015) Tyler Codron, (2016) Dan Coates, (2017) Robert Hope, (2018) Robert Hope, (2019) Robert Hope & Dan Coates, (2020) Tyler Carlson, (2022) Scott Carnegie, (2023) Robert Hope, (2024) Tyler Carlson

2025 Dave Stilley Award Recipient (Top Defenseman): Jordan Gilles

Brag on him as a transition player. Insist that he's a defenseman. Call Jordan Gilles whatever you want. We're going to be referring to him as the back-to-back Dave Stilley Award recipient for another offseason after the guy known as "Gill Man" set the bar on the back end once again. Regularly bringing some of the best conditioning and physical presence to the team's annual Training Camp each November, he literally never stops working. On his game. On his career. On growing the sport he loves throughout Colorado's elite youth lacrosse community. And it shows each and every time he hits the turf - Or sticks around to sign some autographs! Leading the team's D-zone personnel in scoring, as he mixed his way into transition efforts rather regularly, Gilles logged 12 points (2g, 10a) on the season, coming one point short of tying his personal-best total from the previous season, albeit setting a new personal record for assists, with 10 to his name in 2024-25. Ending the year over the 100-loose ball mark for the second-straight season and third overall, he tied Hopey with the team's second-most caused turnovers at 16 while trailing only the team's captain with 17 blocked shots. He can do it all, and continues to prove just that.

Past Winners Include: (2015) Dan Coates, (2016) Robert Hope & Dan Coates, (2017) Greg Downing, (2018) Robert Hope, (2019) Robert Hope, (2020) Robert Hope, (2022) John Lintz, (2023) Warren Jeffrey, (2024) Jordan Gilles

2025 John Grant Jr. Award (Top Offenseman): Ryan Lee

Since the John Grant Jr. Award was introduced following the team's 2018-19 campaign, it's been either forward Ryan Lee or Eli McLaughlin who have taken home the hardware. And with "Liger" stepping away midseason as he establishes his firefighting career north of the border, it's only right Flyin' Ryan Lee got the nod for the first time since the team's NLL Championship-capturing run. Not by default, by any means. Leezer earned this once again. Pacing the team with 95 points (36g, 59a), No. 16 produced the eighth-most points in Mammoth history, coming just one point short of matching Gary Gait's 96-point mark from the 2022-03 campaign. Edging out Malcom by 14 points overall and one goal, he was the team's 1A option, specifically once McLaughlin and Zed Williams were gone for the season. Leading the team in assists just the same with 59 to his name, 13 more than Malcom, he might not be as young or shifty as the lefty in Malcom, but he sure knows how to get the job done as the team's "Quarterback." Sitting atop the scoresheet in 11 different contests this season, including nine of ten games which took place between Jan. 18 to April 5, he was the squad's top threat. For good reason between his crease-diving craziness and lengthy Leezer Lazers.

Past Winners Include: (2019) Eli McLaughlin, (2020) Ryan Lee, (2022) Ryan Lee, (2023) Eli McLaughlin, (2024) Eli McLaughlin

2025 Jamie Hanford Award (Most Inspirational): Ryan Lee

Earning the honors as the team's top-performing forward for the third time in his career suggests Lee is dedicated to his craft. Receiving his second Jamie Hanford Award as the squad's most inspirational player is a whole other celebration in its own right, as the forward endured quite the battle in order find himself in productive shape this season. With a noted lower-body injury sustained a few years back the original cause for Lee missing some time, the veteran was forced into a second surgery just last season, forcing him to miss the team's entire campaign. When Training Camp rolled around last fall, we had an idea that Lee would be slowly ramping his activity up, with an eventual regular season debut in the cards. Wel, Leezer didn't waste any time during his recovery journey, which meant he didn't waste any time waiting in the wings, either. Becoming the only forward to participate in each of the team's 18 regular season showcases, he proved what it meant to be a leader: both in remaining dedicated to his recovery timeline and by filling nets as a career-best pace. Not to mention the idea that he lost the most physical element on his side of the floor in Zed Williams, plus a teammate he's established sincere camaraderie with in Eli McLaughlin. Averaging a team-high 5.28 points per-game, Lee showed up in a big way in almost every single contest - reminding fans and fellow athletes alike that barriers are a bump in the road, not the final destination.

Past Winners Include: (2015) Jeremy Noble, (2016) John Grant Jr., (2017) Cameron Holding, (2018) Joey Cupido, (2019) Steve Fryer, (2020) Chris Wardle, (2022) Tim Edwards, (2023) Ryan Lee, (2024) Tim Edwards

2025 Gary Gait Award (Move Valuable Player): Dillon Ward

Had he not missed the team's road contest against the Ottawa Black Bears in March as he and his wife welcomed their second child into the world, Wardo would've logged the sixth 18-game season of his career. Instead drawing into the squad's other 17 matchups, he recorded his second 17-game outing, and was once again ELITE in almost each of those games. Meaning he faced QUITE the workload throughout the 2024-25 session. So much work that the goaltender went on to set a pair of single-season franchise records, eventually finishing the season with 1016:09 minutes played and with 722 saves en route to breaking his previous squad-best totals from the team's successful 2021-22 run. Stuffing penalty shots seemed to be an easy task for Ward, who generally stood tall during most transition opportunities on the year. Despite the team's defensive unit overall having a bit of a down swing, Ward did his job and then some. Turning in an 11.04 goals-against average and .794 save percentage when all was said and done, he ranked seventh in the NLL in GAA, while his 722 saves ranked fifth-best. And it's only right Ward passed the franchise's longtime captain John Gallant for the most games played, officially enshrining "The Wall" in Mammoth history.

Past Winners Include: (2015) Adam Jones, (2016) Callum Crawford, (2017) Dillon Ward, (2018) Dillon Ward, (2019) Eli McLaughlin, (2020) Dillon Ward, (2022) Ryan Lee & Dillon Ward, (2023) Dillon Ward

2025 Rookie of the Year Award (Top Rookie): Conner Cook

The kid they call "Cookie" started as a Training Camp invite with an outside shot of making the team and ended the season as one of the team's most scrappy, yet reliable, defensemen out there. Listed at 5-9 and 179 lbs., his frame doesn't suggest he's the most physical of back-enders out there. But if you spend a few minutes watching the "Energizer Bunny" lookalike during any of the team's 18 regular season showcases, you'll find one of the hardest working guys on the team. Regularly mixing it up with a few chirps here and there, he tied for the sixth-most penalty minutes (14) on the squad, as he would rarely back down from an often taller or thicker opponent who took exception to his extra jabs or quick feet. Adding in two points (1g, 1a) 29 loose balls, 13 caused turnovers and three blocked shots throughout the 17 games he appeared in during his rookie campaign, he was buzzing up and down the playing surface all season long. He's got wheels - and they were very much on display as one of Ward's favorite mid-turf targets during the breakout. He's tougher than he looks, helping to limit some of the sport's most talented players to "down night" performances. He wasn't the knight in shining armor - He was a lot closer to the jester who came in and distracted courtesy of his dialed-in antics. And despite the team's loaded list of established defensive talent, it would be hard to imagine a scenario where Cook isn't back with the Burgundy Boys for the 2025-26 season after his impressive first-year showing.

Mammoth fans can stay tuned to coloradomammoth.com and Colorado Mammoth social media throughout the offseason for the organization's most recent news, transactions and beyond!

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