The National Lacrosse League formally approved the Colorado Mammoth's contracts with goaltender Gord Nash and forward Gavin Prout yesterday, a day after rejecting the deals.

The original contracts contained escape clauses, allowing Nash and Prout to become free agents after the 2004 season.

However, the league's collective bargaining agreement limits unrestricted free agency to players 32 years of age and older. Nash and Prout are each 25, and neither has the six years of experience which is also required for unrestricted free agency.

Restricted free agency, meanwhile, is reserved for players who sit out an entire season, are paid below the league's average salary, or are forced to take a pay cut. None of those conditions would apply for either Nash or Prout.

As a result, league officials were forced to reject the contracts.

Ask Mammoth general manager Steve Govett, though, and he'll argue that the problem was that the contracts included specific language regarding the team's right to release players, something the league wants to avoid.

"I can release any player any time I want," Govett told the Denver Post. "The voiding was purely a legal issue."

Govett promises to discuss the issue with league officials, to prevent future voidings.

"We'll deal with why it happened later on," he said.