Pre-season • September 1, 2011: The Boston Blazers announced that they would not be participating in 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 in use in
Major League Soccer and the
Canadian Football League. • 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. • The
Philadelphia Wings announced that during the February 12 game against the
Buffalo Bandits, the Wings players will wear special jerseys with their
Twitter user names instead of their last names. The game-worn jerseys will be auctioned off after the game, with the proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.
Regular season • January 21, 2012:
John Grant, Jr. became the fifth player in NLL history to score 1000 points with an assist on a Derek Hopcroft goal in
Colorado's 13–12 overtime win over the
Calgary Roughnecks. Grant started the season with 30 points in three games. • January 26, 2012:
Toronto Rock captain
Colin Doyle suffered a lower body injury early in the Rock's 13–11 defeat of the
Knighthawks. The injury kept him out of the lineup during the Rock's game against the
Calgary Roughnecks the next night, ending his consecutive game streak at 188 games. Doyle is now tied with
Steve Toll for the NLL record. • February 13, 2012: The
Edmonton Rush traded holdout
Athan Iannucci and a second-round draft pick to the
Washington Stealth in exchange for
Paul Rabil and a first-round pick. Iannucci was acquired from the
Philadelphia Wings in the off-season for Brodie Merrill, but never signed with the Rush. • February 15, 2012: Five members of the
Rochester Knighthawks were suspended indefinitely by the league after a "brawl" at a restaurant in
Bloomington, Minnesota.
Cody Jamieson, Tyler Burton, Sid Smith, Travis Hill, and
Jordan Hall were arrested, charged with various misdemeanors, and released. • February 17, 2012: Former NLL
Goaltender of the Year Anthony Cosmo was traded from the
Minnesota Swarm to the
Buffalo Bandits for first-round draft picks in both 2013 and 2014. Cosmo was selected by the Swarm in the
Boston Blazers dispersal draft but had not played with the Swarm. • February 22, 2012: The
Minnesota Swarm named Associate General Manager Joe Sullivan head coach, replacing Mike Lines. No reason was given for the move. • March 2, 2012: John Grant, who reached the 1,000-point milestone earlier in the year, scored his 500th career goal in a 16–13 win over the
Buffalo Bandits. Grant became only the third player in NLL history to reach 500 goals, the other two being
Gary Gait and
John Tavares. • March 10, 2012:
Shawn Williams became the sixth player in NLL history, and second this season, to reach the 1,000-point plateau as his
Edmonton Rush lost 16–9 to the
Calgary Roughnecks. Williams joins NLL legends
Gary Gait,
John Tavares,
Colin Doyle,
Josh Sanderson, and Williams' former Knighthawk teammate
John Grant, Jr., who reached the milestone in January. • April 7, 2012:
Dan Dawson recorded his 75th and 76th assists of the year, breaking the single-season assists record of 74 previously held by Dawson and
Josh Sanderson. • April 23, 2012: Garrett Billings recorded his 79th assist, surpassing Dan Dawson for the league lead and setting a new mark for assists in a season. • April 28, 2012: John Grant set a new single-season scoring record, recording his 116th point with a goal in Colorado's 16–14 loss to the
Minnesota Swarm. Grant surpassed the record of 115 points, set by
John Tavares in 2001. • April 28, 2012: Garrett Billings finished the season with 82 assists, setting the new single-season assist record. ==Media Coverage==