The 2012 National Lacrosse League season kicked off last night when the Calgary Roughnecks knocked off the defending champion Toronto Rock by a score of 12-9.

Most of the league is made up of Canadians, but the 25% of the league that is American has a lot of players that are former Orange. Here is a look at which former Syracuse players are in the NLL this year.

The Rochester Knighthawks always seem to have the most Syracuse players. being so close. Rookie Joel White will be playing transition with the Knighthawks after a successful first season with the MLL's Rochester Rattlers. Stephen Keogh is another rookie out of Syracuse and was the second overall pick in this year's NLL draft.

Sid Smith will enter his third season as a Knighthawks defenseman and is expected to take that next step becoming an elite defender in the league. Cody Jamieson is going to be in his second season and will be relied on heavily in the Knighthawks offense.

The Colorado Mammoth have veteran defender Jarrett Park out of Syracuse. The Mammoth defense unit should be one of the best in the league this season. He is the only Colorado player from Syracuse.

As far as other players, Brett Bucktooth was recently cut from the Buffalo Bandits and will be playing in the Canadian Lacrosse League in Ontario. Casey Powell of the Rochester Knighthawks will not be playing this season because he wants his knee to heal for MLL season with the Hamilton Nationals.

For more on the NLL and lacrosse all season, read In Lax We Trust, the home of pro lacrosse on SBNation.