The 2012 National Lacrosse League

National Lacrosse League

The National Lacrosse League is a men's professional indoor lacrosse league in North America. It currently has nine teams; three in Canada and six in the United States. Unlike other lacrosse leagues which play in the summer, the NLL plays its games in the winter and spring. Each year, the playoff...

 season, the 26th in the history of the NLL, will begin on January 8, 2012 and end with the Championship game in May.

Team movement

The Boston Blazers

Boston Blazers

The Boston Blazers were a member of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1989 to 1997. They were called the New England Blazers from 1989 to 1991 while based in Worcester, Massachusetts, and were renamed the Boston Blazers in 1992 when they moved to Boston. While in Worcester, the Blazers played...

 announced in September of 2011 that they would not participate in the 2012 season. A dispersal draft was held on September 9, 2011, as the Philadelphia Wings

Philadelphia Wings

The Philadelphia Wings are a member of the National Lacrosse League, a professional box lacrosse league in North America. They play at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

 took Blazers captain and top scorer Dan Dawson

Dan Dawson

Dan Dawson is a Canadian lacrosse player who plays for the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League and formerly of the Hamilton Nationals of Major League Lacrosse.-NLL career:...

 first overall.

Pre-season

• September 1, 2011: The Boston Blazers announced that they would not be participating in the 2012 season.
• September 23, 2011: The NLL announced that there would be several rule changes for the 2012 season. The major changes were:
  • For major penalties, the team will be short-handed for five minutes _or_ if the opposing team scores three (rather than two) goals.
  • When a team gains possession of the ball in their own end, they now have eight seconds (rather than ten) to get the ball over centre.
  • When the whistle is blown to indicate a loss of possession, the player with the ball must immediately put it on the floor. Throwing it or rolling it away is now a penalty.
  • Goaltender pads will be one inch narrower.
• October 26, 2011: The playoff format has changed for the 2012 season. Eight teams will still make the playoffs, four from each division, and the single-game elimination format is retained. However, if the fifth place team in the West Division has a better record than the fourth place team in the East, the West division team will take its place. This "crossover" rule is already is use in Major League Soccer
  Major League Soccer
  Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
  
   and the Canadian Football League
  Canadian Football League
  The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
  
  .
• November 29, 2011: The NLL announced several more rule changes for the 2012 season:
  • Challenges to on-field calls will be limited to one per team per half
  • The maximum length of a stick is reduced from 46 to 42 inches.

Media Coverage

Beginning with the 2012 NLL season, U.S. broadcast rights will shift to CBS Sports Network, which will carry eight regular season games, all of them live.