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The long wait for NHL hockey is over. Skates and sticks will replace suits and briefcases for a Sunday opening of training camps after players voted massively in favour of a new collective bargaining agreement to end the nearly four-month old lockout. However, it took hours after the players vote for the two sides to complete a written memorandum of understanding consistent with what the players voted on that had to be completed before the CBA became final. That was finalized late Saturday night. Camps and other business could not begin until the deal was completed. The 36-hour electronic voting process for the players ended Saturday morning, reportedly with 98.2 per cent saying yes to the deal and only 12 voting against it. The leagues 30 clubs are eager to get started on a seven-day, hurry-up camp to get ready for a 48-game schedule over only 99 days that begins with 13 games on Jan. 19. Opening night match-ups include the Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup banner-raising as they play host to Chicago, as well as Toronto at Montreal, Ottawa at Winnipeg and Anaheim at Vancouver. Edmonton is at Vancouver and San Jose visits Calgary on Jan. 20. The teams will play only inside their own conference in the regular season. A string of announcements are expected from teams that have been barred from signing players and making deals since the lockout started on Sept. 15. The league ratified the deal on Wednesday. Teams will not have their usual 50-plus players in a short camp, but there are intriguing questions about who will make their teams. Especially among a group of young stars knocking on the door. In Edmonton, theyre already talking about line combinations involving first overall draft pick Nail Yakupov and how much promising free agent signing Justin Schultz will play on the defence. Oilers coach Ralph Krueger, with young talents Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins back from the AHL, can finally start work on his first NHL job. Others like centre Mark Scheifele in Winnipeg, defenceman Morgan Reilly in Toronto, forward Mikhail Grigorenko in Buffalo and forward Alex Galchenyuk in Montreal also have a shot at making their teams. The Calgary Flames and their new coach Bob Hartley can also take a look at their top prospect Sven Baertschi, who looked good in a brief call-up from the junior Portland Winterhawks late last season. Captain Jarome Iginlas side needs to integrate off-season acquisitions Dennis Wideman and Jiri Hudler into the lineup, not to mention former KHL scoring star Roman Cervenka. The Leafs begin amid the turmoil of general manager Brian Burkes abrupt firing this week, leaving Dave Nonis to deal with concerns in goal. A top newcomer is big forward James Van Riemsdyk. A concern is the health of injured defenceman Jake Gardiner. Montreal begins with new general manager Marc Bergevin and a new coaching staff led by Michel Therrien trying to dig their way out of last place in the Eastern Conference. New faces are Brandon Prust, Colby Armstrong and Francis Bouillon, but the biggest change would be having both defenceman Andrei Markov and captain Brian Gionta back from major injuries. Second-year coach Paul MacLean in Ottawa will be looking to build on last seasons surprise jump to the playoffs, led by a Norris Trophy season from Erik Karlsson. The Sens have added scoring punch in winger Guillaume Latendresse. The Jets have bolstered their attack with Olli Jokinen and Alexei Ponikarovsky, and have star forward Evander Kane starting on a six-year contract extension. The Vancouver Canucks are unchanged, although they open camp with second-line centre Ryan Kesler recovering from wrist and shoulder surgery. Fans in Minnesota will be excited to see marquee acquisitions Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, who together signed contracts worth US$198 million. And there could be fun in Florida, where veterans Alex Kovalev and Marek Svatos were invited to camp, although former Canadien and Nashville Predator Andrei Kostitsyn declined in order to stay in the KHL. The Stanley Cup finalist New Jersey Devils, who lost Parise, are expected to wait until midweek for their scoring leader Ilya Kovalchuk to show up after staying behind to play in the KHL all-star game. The Kings have their entire team back, which could be a major plus with a short camp. There will be no new players or system to break in. Star forward Anze Kopitar is to miss the start of the season with a knee injury, however. The Boston Bruins begin camp with veteran goalie Tim Thomas on sabbatical, with Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin now sharing the net. Nearly 200 players found work for varying lengths of time in Europe during the lockout. They and the players on two-way contracts who skated in the AHL should be ahead on conditioning compared to the majority who worked out in gyms at home and skated a few times on city rinks. A tentative agreement to end the lockout was reached last week on the 113th day of the lockout. The two sides finally got a deal completed after a 16-hour negotiating session in New York and assistance from federal mediator Scot L. Beckenbaugh. The deal is for 10 years, but either side can opt out after eight. The previous collective bargaining agreement was in effect for seven seasons. The lockout forced the cancellation of 510 games, including the Winter Classic and all-star game. The NHL released a full schedule minutes after the agreement was signed. If the Stanley Cup final goes seven games, the final game will be played on June 28. No pre-season games will be played. Many NHL players have taken part in informal skates at practice rinks over the last week to prepare for the shortened camp and season. Cheap NFL Jerseys . The level-headed skipper said all along his young, powerful hitters would eventually put things together. Whether that was wishful thinking or well-placed confidence, Melvin was right. Yoenis Cespedes had his first career four-hit game, including a homer and three RBIs, and the Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins 9-4 on Sunday to complete a three-game series sweep. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . The 24-year-old Lin was cut by Boston on Oct. 17. He spent much of the season with Triple-A Pawtucket, but hit .250 (3 for 12) over nine games with the Red Sox. http://jasonhavens.org/cheap.html . B.J. Penn, his opponent, was cheered as he entered. A grim MacDonald weighed in first, tipping the scales at 170.2 pounds, slapping his chest four times while on the scales.He has been a finalist for the CFLs top Canadian award and twice a 1,000-yard receiver but for much of this season Dave Stala has been a forgotten man in the Hamilton Tiger-Cats offence. The veteran slotback has just 28 catches for 455 yards and four touchdowns. Hes on pace to finish with 39 catches for 630 yards, which would be his lowest production since arriving in Hamilton in 09 after spending his first six CFL seasons with Montreal. "It has been difficult for me," said the former Saint Marys Huskies standout. "Ive been the guy here the last few years catching anywhere from 60 to 80 balls but weve had some great guys come in and the ball has to be spread around. "As a receiver youre never satisfied to just be out there, you always want to be making plays and scoring touchdowns. If youre a receiver in this league and you dont want the ball, you shouldnt be playing." The six-foot-two, 198-pound Stala played a big offensive role his first three years in Steeltown, registering 211 catches for 2,537 yards and 16 touchdowns. In 2010, he had a career-high 85 receptions for 1,015 yards and six TDs and was the East Division nominee for the CFLs top Canadian award. That season, he also unveiled a creatively unique hacky sack touchdown dance that was featured prominently by Canadian and U.S. television networks. This season Stala finds himself surrounded by quality receivers with the off-season addition of free-agent slotback Andy Fantuz, signing of 08 first-round pick Sam Giguere and quick development of sophomores Bakari Grant and Chris Williams -- the CFLs top rookie last season -- and first-year player Onrea Jones. Suddenly, theres no shortage of options for quarterback Henry Burris, who leads the league in TD passes (32) and is second in passing yards (3,846). Stala, 32, a native of Poland who grew up in Hamilton, figured in Hamiltons 41-28 home win over Montreal on Friday night. He had four catches for 40 yards and two TDs in the contest after recording nine receptions for 150 yards and a TD the five previous games combined. Stala has been held without a catch twice this season and almost a quarter of his 2012 production came in a 39-36 loss to B.C. on July 6 when he registered a season-high six catches for 96 yards. Stala also had a career-best 87-yard TD reception in a 51-8 win over Edmonton on Sept. 15. "Being around for a while, yyou do see the big picture," said the 10-year CFL veteran.dddddddddddd. "There does come a point where you do have to say something to the coaches and let them know how you feel about whats going on. "I did say something and the coaches understood and its all fine. To me right now, the most important thing is for us to win games down the stretch." And thered be no time like now for Hamilton to get hot. With five regular-season games remaining the Ticats (5-8) are third in the East Division standings, four points ahead of last-place Winnipeg (3-10) and four points behind second-place Toronto (7-6). Hamilton faces Edmonton (5-8) in a crucial game Friday night. The Eskimos are last in the West Division but in the CFL if the fourth-place finisher in one division has more points than the third-place squad in the other, the fourth-place team crosses over and assumes the rival divisions final playoff spot. Hamilton could be facing the Eskimos at the right time. Not only has Edmonton dropped five straight, but head coach Kavis Reed has assumed the offensive co-ordinator and play-calling duties from Marcus Crandell, who was demoted to quarterbacks coach. Linebacker J.C. Sherritt (knee), who has a CFL-leading 104 tackles, is doubtful. "We cant be concerned about them," Stala said. "We have to be concerned about what weve got going on here. "Id say this is probably our most important game of the season." The Ticats lead the CFL in scoring (30.8 points per game), are second in passing (295.8 yards per game) and third in total yards (383.3 per game). They also have a potent rushing attack with rookie Chevon Walker (576 yards, 5.8-yards per carry) and veteran Avon Cobourne (478 yards, 6.3-yards per carry). "As long as were clicking on all cylinders I think were pretty dangerous," Stala said. "We know what were capable of." It has been a roller-coaster campaign for Hamilton, picked by many pre-season prognosticators as the team to beat in the East Division. However, Stala says experience has taught him a valuable lesson. "We all know how the CFL works," he said. "The team that gets hot down the stretch usually wins the Grey Cup. "Ive been playing 10 years and have experienced only one losing season and never missed the playoffs and I dont want that to happen this year." ' ' '