Dogged approach: Star forward is determined to turn Las Vegas team into a National Lacrosse League contender

Everything feels different for the Las Vegas Desert Dogs this season.

The local professional franchise’s third season in the National Lacrosse League is under way with an overhauled roster. Only five players remain from the initial Desert Dogs’ squad that emerged out of the 2022 NLL Expansion Draft.

That includes 25-year-old Jack Hannah, who leads the team with 17 goals and 35 points. The Cincinnati, Ohio native and University of Denver graduate was initially drafted to the now-defunct Panther City (Fort Worth, Texas) Lacrosse Club, but never suited up until the Desert Dogs acquired his rights.

That gives Hannah a unique perspective on the local team’s progression and an extra motivation to turn it into a winner. Las Vegas has missed the playoffs in it is first two seasons—eight out of 14 teams advance—but eyes making a push before the 2024-2025 regular season ends in mid April.

The Desert Dogs currently sit at 2-5 but Hannah is confident the team’s best days are ahead at its new home, Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, after two years at Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay.

We caught up with him to talk about the move in venues, the team’s potential, his lacrosse journey and much more.

It’s not easy starting your career with an expansion franchise, but what have you enjoyed most about the process over the last three years?

My favorite part has just been building the whole thing from scratch. It was an honor to be on that first team and get selected in the expansion draft. From there, we’ve gotten kicked in the teeth quite a few times when we feel like we’re going to win games. But that’s part of the growing process, which has overall been great. We feel like we’re really on the cusp of being a really good team.

You’ve now won two of your last three games heading into Saturday’s matchup with the Georgia Swarm. What’s gone right and how can you build on it?

This year we brought in 15 new guys on the roster, so while we continue to grow with the couple of us that have been here from the start, we have a lot of a new chemistry to figure out. I think it hurt us early in the season. That feeling of a losing culture can grow and it’s hard to overcome. But we had to re-evaluate and understand we’re a new group. We’re still learning even though we know we’re a much better team. We have a ton of skill but it’s about putting it together and finding our roles. I think we’re doing a good job of that. That’s what we’ve slowly started to do here.

Have you seen growth in the local fan base and new lacrosse fans?

Year one, when we did our season-ticket holder events and signed things, you’ve got to have something to talk about, so I’d always ask, “Hey, have you seen a lacrosse game before?” It was an overwhelming amount of people that hadn’t. Now, in year three, we have a lot of the same season-ticket holders coming back. I hear stories from people like, “Year one we bought season tickets and haven’t been able to unhook ourselves,” or “I came to a game last year and now I have season tickets.” I think the community in Henderson is rallying behind us. A lot of people enjoy it. It was pretty clear last game (a 12-10 win over the San Diego Seals on January 18) with a sellout crowd. I know it was (team minority owner Wayne) Gretzky jersey night so that brought a lot of people, but it was a loud building. It couldn’t have been more exciting.

When we were on the Strip, you’d see the season-ticket holders coming, but we were grabbing a lot of people who were on the Strip for whatever reason and found their way to a lacrosse game. That’s fun. I enjoyed that as well, but there’s something great about seeing the same faces that are coming back game after game and continuing to enjoy it at Lee’s Family Forum.

You mentioned Gretzky but he’s not the team’s only celebrity owner (two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash and two-time major-winning golfer Dustin Johnson also have shares). Have you interacted with those guys?

I’ve gotten to meet all the owners and it’s been pretty cool. All the Canadian guys were super-pumped to meet Gretzky but I was personally pumped to meet Steve Nash, being a basketball guy. They’re all very cool and they’re all involved. They want to know more about the game. Getting to chop it up with Wayne Gretzky about hockey and him asking you questions about lacrosse is a surreal feeling. I think it’s really cool to see prominent athletes in other sports support lacrosse and know it’s an awesome sport to be around.

How have you grown as a player from your rookie season?

I didn’t know as much as a rookie. It’s a big learning process catching up to these guys that have played box lacrosse (as opposed to the more traditional field lacrosse in America) their whole lives. I’ve got a lot more confidence this year. I’d say Jonathan Donville, who we picked up from Panther City in the Dispersal Draft, is a heck of a player. He’s one of the smartest guys I’ve ever been around so he’s helped me a ton. When I was a rookie, I was playing hard and learning as I was going, but I’ve gotten to the point where I feel pretty comfortable with the game, comfortable controlling the game and knowing how to win. We’re getting there. I don’t think I’m close to my ceiling yet. I want to keep getting better, keep growing, but it’s a good feeling to have improved so far.

What’s your proudest lacrosse accomplishment so far?

It’s a weird answer because it has nothing to do with pro or college lacrosse, but my senior year of high school, we beat the private school in town that a bunch of kids from my public school transferred to. They thought it would help them go play lacrosse in college because they thought the program was way better than ours. My junior year, they finally allowed us on their schedule to play them and we lost by four or five. But my senior year, we had eight guys who started at my high school starting on their team. They ended up winning the state championship, but on one Friday night in Milford, Ohio, we beat them 15-5. It was awesome. It was the best win of my career.

How much have you carried that underdog mentality into your time with the Desert Dogs with sights on pulling off another shocking upset?

That’s the plan. If we get an NLL Cup in our hands, that will jump to the top of my list pretty quickly.

This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.