VANCOUVER - Acknowledging both an aboriginal heritage and a wealth of local talent to choose from, the Vancouver Ravens were unveiled Monday as the newest franchise in the National Lacrosse League.

David Stadnyk, one of the team's three principle owners, said because of the number of B.C. players already in the league, there was some resistance to granting Vancouver a franchise. We have some of the best players in the world right here in Vancouver and B.C., said Stadnyk.

They were scared to give us a franchise. They were hearing all over the league that players wanted to play in Vancouver. We're going to have one hell of a good lacrosse team.

League commissioner Jim Jennings said a Vancouver franchise made sense for the present and future.

There's a large talent pool out here that is now playing in the league, said Jennings.

We felt that Vancouver would be a good market for us. This is where we need to be if we're going to expand into the west coast of the United States.

Calgary also has been awarded an NLL franchise, bringing to 11 the number of teams in the league.

Jennings plans to visit Edmonton this week to investigate putting a team there for the 2002-2003 season and said there's also been interest from Winnipeg.

The Vancouver team logo is a large, black raven, holding a lacrosse stick. Tom Mayenknecht, one of the team's co-owners, said the raven was chosen because in aboriginal mythology, the bird was a trickster.

We hope we can create a lot of problems for other teams, he said.

The Ravens 14-game schedule will begin in December. The team will play home games at GM Place, where a new configuration has been created for indoor lacrosse.

Stadnyk sees the Ravens co-existing with the NHL Vancouver Canucks.

It's two different markets, two different games, he said.

Stadnyk, along with Mayenknecht and Bob Smart, also owns the Vancouver Whitecaps of the North American A-League soccer and the Vancouver Breakers of the North American W-League.

The three paid $500,000 US for the NLL franchise. Stadnyk said the team will need to draw crowds of between 6,000 and 7,000 to break even.

In a recent game, the Toronto Rock set a new indoor lacrosse attendance record by drawing a crowd of 19,059 to the Air Canada Centre for a victory over the Columbus Landsharks.

Other teams in the league are the Ottawa Rebel, Buffalo Bandits, Rochester Knighthawks, Albany Attack, New York Saints, Washington Power and Philadelphia Wings.

The Ravens have yet to name a coach or select any players.