The day is here. Finally, the 2012 MLL season is ready to begin. The Boston Cannons will begin their title defense tonight when they take on the Rochester Rattlers. The Cannons not only open their season tonight, but they also will have their ring ceremony before the game.

Boston will have Paul Rabil because he is not playing in the winter league NLL this season. They will be without Pat Heim of the Philadelphia Wings and Kevin Buchanan of the Buffalo Bandits. But on the other end, Rochester will be without star scorer Ned Crotty.

The Cannons finished with the top record in MLL last season while the Rattlers finished with the worst at 2-10. Their team is a young one, with a lot of American developmental players and younger players. In net is John Galloway, a familiar fan to field fans as the former Syracuse goalie.

In net for the Cannons will be the Championship game MVP Jordan Burke. His defense will be made up of PT Ricci and Jack Reid, but Mitch Belisle will be playing for the NLL's Minnesota Swarm.

The offense should have a good week even without Heim and Buchanan tonight. They have Rabil, former MVP Matt Poskay, Brad Ross and Ryan Boyle. They will also be without new pick up Bill McGlone, but the offense even without those three is one of the strongest in the league. The game can be seen live at 7pm on Comcast Sports Net New England.

I will be live at the game and live blogging updates from the game for SBNation Boston and will have video and audio published after the game. Also tune in to the MLL Post Game Show Sunday morning at 11am on The Lacrosse Radio Network where Jordan Burke will be a live guest.

For more Boston Cannons and Major League Lacrosse coverage, visit In Lax We Trust.