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The 28th season of indoor pro lacrosse begins Dec. 28 with a Vancouver entry for the first time in 10 years and a novel new collective bargaining agreement. Players have accepted a two-year pay freeze even though schedules have increased from 16 games to 18, and lineups have decreased from 20 to 18. So, how did the new seven-year CBA come to pass? "We were concerned with the financial stability of the league," said Edmonton Rush captain Chris Corbeil, who took part in every bargaining session. "We realize a lot of teams are struggling to stay in business and as players we want to see the league survive so were able to play lacrosse for years to come." Steve Govett, the Colorado Mammoth president who chairs the NLL board of governors, lauds the players co-operation in ensuring the leagues stability. "We feel like the NLL has turned a corner," Govett said. "Our focus (in CBA talks) had to be on creating positive momentum for all of our teams and to show the viability of our league to potential new partners for expansion, for television and for sponsorships. We had to reduce costs without damaging the product." The Rochester Knighthawks, Toronto Rock, Philadelphia Wings, Buffalo Bandits and Minnesota Swarm, who move over from the West, make up the new East division, while the Edmonton Rush, Calgary Roughnecks, Vancouver (formerly Washington) Stealth and Colorado Mammoth represent the West. Six teams, instead of last years eight, will advance to playoffs. Gone are the single-game eliminations of previous years as playoffs will now be two-game sets beginning in the arenas of lower-seeded teams. Division leaders will get first-round byes and await the survivors of playoffs between the second- and third-place teams. If two-game sets are split, mini-games of 10 minutes will decide winners. Reducing active rosters to 18 -- 16 runners and two goalies -- will force in-game adjustments. "That was, for me, one of the toughest pills to swallow," Corbeil said. "Last season we had 10 defencemen -- two five-man units -- and eight forwards for games. Now well be mixing and matching. Guys are going to be double-shifting and sucking wind. Conditioning and stamina are going to play an even bigger role." Salaries range from a $9,207 max for rookies to a $27,217 max for veterans, with an exception for one or two "franchise" players per team wholl get an additional $5,000 for the season. A cost of living raise of 3.5 per cent a year kicks in in 2016. The heightened competition for jobs caused by reduced roster size has combined with the introduction of a salary cap of $400,000 per team to squeeze out some well-known players. A prime example was the release by Colorado of former captain Gavin Prout, 35. "For years, Gavin Prout was synonymous with the Colorado Mammoth," said Govett. "Unfortunately, he is a casualty of the reduced roster size and newly-implemented salary cap of the CBA. "Elements of the agreement made for some incredibly difficult decisions. This was the toughest. With just 16 runners dressing each game, theres a significant emphasis on speed and athleticism. Younger and faster players are the new NLL." Rochester will be seeking a third straight NLL title and that is entirely possible given the return of all significant players, the patient coaching of Mike Hasen, the consistent goaltending of Matt Vinc, a staunch defence led by captain Sid Smith, and the scoring exploits of Cody Jamieson, Dan Dawson, et al. Veteran forward Mike Accursi has retired and accepted an executive role. Others packing it in are Jimmy Quinlan, who passes the Edmonton captains "C" to Chris Corbeil, Torontos Blaine Manning and Cam Woods, Buffalos Mike Hominuck and Jon Harasym, and Colorados Rich Morgan. Casey Powell, the NLLs all-time leading American point-getter, has told the Mammoth hes sitting out for now, and transition speedster Paul Rabil is likewise unavailable to the Wings as some of the best U.S. players appear to be passing on the NLL season to avoid the risk of injury before the world field lacrosse championship in Denver this summer. Some of the most significant personnel changes involve the Bandits. After firing head coach Darris Kilgour, they replaced him with Troy Cordingley, who was let go by Toronto even though he was named coach of the year for helping the Rock to a league-best 10-6 season. Buffalo GM Steve Dietrich traded away future draft picks to get 34-goal shooter Ryan Benesch from Minnesota and tough defenceman Rory Smith from Colorado. One constant in Buffalo, however, is all-time NLL scoring leader John Tavares, 45, who will play his 23rd season in Bandits black and orange. The leagues other golden oldie, 39-year-old John Grant Jr., signed a new four-year contract with Colorado. Grant scored 43 goals last season. In all, there will be only seven players over the age of 35 on green NLL carpets in January as the youth-oriented league gathers momentum into the new season. John Lovell, an assistant under Cordingley, takes over as head coach in Toronto, and Blane Harrison is the new head coach in Philadelphia after GM Johnny Mouradian relinquished that job and promoted Harrison. The youngest and fastest team in the league will undoubtedly be Minnesota, which is blending five 2013 draft picks including No. 1 Logan Schuss and No. 2 Jason Noble into a lineup that already has four 2012 first-rounders. The Dec. 28 openers begin with Philadelphia at Buffalo, Minnesota at Rochester and Edmonton at Colorado. Calgary opens in Toronto on Jan. 3 and Vancouver opens in Colorado on Jan. 4. The NLL could be one lucrative league-wide TV deal away from flourishing and, with more and more all-sports channels starting up, it could happen sooner rather than later. If not, the leagues devoted fans will continue to enjoy some of the lowest ticket prices of any pro sport. "This was an extremely collaborative process, one that we hope will set the stage for the long-term stability and growth of the NLL," Govett said. "By allowing us to focus on fixing our business model, the nine teams will remain dedicated to the cause while attracting new franchise owners to the mix, ultimately replacing jobs that have been lost over time and growing the pie for everyone. "The existing players chose to understand that the sacrifices they are making today, along with owners that have been sacrificing for some time to bring this great game to the public, need to be in unison if the league is to make it to that ever-elusive next level." Cheap Rams Jerseys China . 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The latest from Bob As tweeted by TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie on Monday, the Columbus Blue Jackets need to resolve their offseason plans with forward R. BALTIMORE -- The Tampa Bay Rays are doing a good job of creating some separation between themselves and the Baltimore Orioles, while at the same time tracking down the Boston Red Sox in the AL East. Even though its not September yet, the Rays dont intend to wait around to make their run at the top. Alex Cobb took a two-hitter into the seventh inning, Matt Joyce drove in three runs and Tampa Bay beat the Orioles 7-4 Tuesday night for its sixth win in seven games. Wil Myers had two hits and two RBIs for the Rays, who are percentage points ahead of Boston in the AL East after the Red Sox lost to the Giants later Tuesday night. Tampa Bay has won the first two games of this series between AL East rivals and can complete a sweep Wednesday night. "Its very big for where were at in the division and the fact were chasing the Red Sox a little bit and also trying to create some distance, because we know the Os and the Yankees are very capable and very tough competitors," said Ben Zobrist, who had two hits and an RBI. "We dont anticipate it being any sort of easy road to the end of September and weve got to battle. This is two great wins for us to start off." The Orioles, on the other hand, have lost six of eight and are in danger of being overtaken by the surging Yankees. "Its not the position we would prefer to find ourselves in after the first two games of the series, thats for sure, but theres still plenty of baseball left for us to make up some ground," said Nate McLouth, who went 0 for 5. "Its not ideal at all, but we wont let this game affect (Wednesdays) game." Cobb (8-2) was making his second start since being hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Kansas Citys Eric Hosmer on June 15. The right-hander allowed two runs, one earned, three hits and four walks in six-plus innings to win his fifth straight decision. "The curveball really helped me out early on," Cobb said. "My changeup started working a little bit so I established that I was going to throw in and out with the fastball early and I got them to expand the zone a few times with my off-speed pitches." Cobb left after Baltimore used two walks and a single to load the bases with no outs in the seventh. Alex Torres goot Brian Roberts to hit into a run-scoring double play before striking out McLouth to keep the Rays ahead 3-2.dddddddddddd "They brought in that lefty with that really good changeup to come in and do exactly what he did and thats why theyre such a tough team," McLouth said. "Because they can make life pretty tough on you." Joyce doubled in two runs in the ninth off T.J. McFarland and Myers added a broken-bat, two-run single off Jim Johnson. Matt Wieters hit a two-run homer in the bottom half before Fernando Rodney entered and got three outs for his 29th save. Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez (8-6) gave up three runs, two earned, eight hits and four walks in 5 2-3 innings. The right-hander is 0-3 in five starts since July 20. One night after getting 15 hits in a 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay, Baltimore managed only five hits, four of them singles. "We didnt get any hits. Thats obvious," manager Buck Showalter said. "If you want to look for a reason, I personally look at Cobb, who was tough. We didnt do much off him tonight. I think that was it in a nutshell." The Rays have won seven of eight against the Orioles to take an 8-5 lead in the season series. The two teams with the fewest errors in the majors each gave up an unearned run in the second inning. In the top half, Joyce walked, advanced on an errant pickoff throw by Gonzalez and scored on a two-out bloop by Yunel Escobar. Baltimore tied it when Evan Longoria muffed a grounder and Flaherty singled in a run with two outs. Tampa Bay went up 3-1 in the third. After Desmond Jennings walked and scored on a double by Zobrist, Longoria singled and Joyce delivered a sacrifice fly. Gonzalez worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth by getting James Loney to bounce into a double play. NOTES: Zobrist moved into a fifth-place tie with B.J. Upton on the teams career RBI list with 447. Aubrey Huff is in fourth with 449. ... Jeremy Hellickson, whos 8-3 lifetime against Baltimore, starts for Tampa Bay in the series finale Wednesday night. LH Wei-Yin Chen will pitch for Baltimore. ... The Orioles had won five straight over the Rays with Gonzalez as the starter. ... McLouth is hitless in his last 17 at-bats. ' ' '