It's now less than two weeks until the 2012 National Lacrosse League season opens. The opening night game is on Sunday, January 8th, as the defending champion Toronto Rock host the Calgary Roughnecks in one of the league's best East-West rivalries. The game airs live on TSN and The NLL Network at 6PM Eastern.
Toronto won the Championship last year in an exciting 8-7 game that sent goaltender Bob Watson out on top and into the NLL Hall of Fame. Calgary had the league's best regular season record last year at 11-5, but lost in the Western Division Finals to the Washington Stealth.
The first night of full schedule NLL action comes the following Saturday, January 14th, with eight of the league's nine teams in action. Divisional rivalries are renewed as Philadelphia hosts Rochester while Buffalo hosts Toronto in the East. In the West, Colorado hosts Minnesota while Washington hosts Calgary.
On Friday, January 20th, the Edmonton Rush open their 2012 season when they host the Colorado Mammoth at Rexall Place.