| Kaleb Toth is to the Calgary Roughnecks what Wayne Gretzky was to the Los Angeles Kings in the early ’90s: A recognizable face, a tireless promoter and a star player. The difference between Toth and Gretzky is that the Great One left his home for his sport, and Toth is coming home for his.
Professional lacrosse fans across the country should know the 23-year-old Toth, a Calgarian who starred for the Toronto Rock for the last two years in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). On June 5, 2000, with 1.1 seconds left in the last pro event ever played in Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens, Toth scored the winning goal to lift his team to the NLL championship, beating the Philadelphia Wings.
When Roughnecks president and general manager Brad Banister was awarded the expansion NLL franchise just eight months ago, acquiring Toth was his first and main priority. "Even if Kaleb wasn't the quality ball player he is, he's still good to have on our team," says Banister about the man he's banking his team's future on. "He's always working – handing out medals and signing autographs – we wanted a guy like that. Being one of the elite players in the league doesn't hurt. He was part of our plans from the start."
But prying Toth out of Toronto took a lot of work. Banister gave up the team's first round draft pick this year, Blaine Manning, and their first round pick in next year's draft. Banister has no qualms about admitting that the Roughnecks need to start well to attract attention, and that's why he went after top talent every chance he could.
"We're not building this thing through the draft and making this team playable in 10 years – we're going for it now," he says.
Even though Toth was a top-flight player in the NLL, like most others in the league, he had to work outside of the game to make a living. Toth spent his first year with the Rock working in the team's front office doing odd jobs such as answering phones and selling tickets. In his second year, the 2001 season, Toth lived in Calgary and flew to Toronto for weekend games, all while working here full-time.
"The one thing about lacrosse is that everyone has nine-to-five jobs and they play lacrosse at night," says Toth. "Fans are going to enjoy us here because we're the blue collar guys."
The average NLL salary is somewhere in the $10,000 to $15,000 range, with the highest paid players making about $18,000 a year – rookies take home about $5,200 per season. Due to the small salaries, most players work day jobs, even if they play the game year-round in other pro leagues. This reputation has given the guys the nickname "Weekend Warriors."
The salaries keep the cost of the league down, and make lacrosse games affordable to attend. The average ticket price for Roughnecks games is just over $20, which is close to the rest of the NLL teams. The Toronto Rock have only about 4,000 season ticket holders, but are near capacity every game due to game-day purchases. The Roughnecks are looking for the same type of walk-ups and have a solid base of over 2,300 season tickets so far. Attendance has risen every year since the league came in, with the Rock being one of the more successful teams, attracting 15,000 or more fans per game.
Banister believes the game will bring out the fans in Calgary because they have never seen the game played at this level, and because they will be able to relate to the work ethic the guys on the floor exhibit during games.
"I think 80 per cent of the fans of pro lacrosse have never played lacrosse," he says. "Once you see it you will not believe it. It's amazing that these guys work that hard, get that beat up, still go to work on Monday and still shake hands after every game no matter what happens."
Toth says players know that they have to perform or they won't play. The NLL is different from other professional leagues because there are no guaranteed contracts and no untouchable players. The game has been recognized as tough and violent because no one is above taking a whack in front of the net or receiving a bone-crunching check if they go into the corner – it's a big part of the game. In fact, slashing and checking is legal and often necessary for winning.
"All players love their sports, but we take it a little more seriously because we don't make their money," says Toth. "We're doing this because we want to see the game succeed."
When the NLL expanded to the West, they knew there would be a wealth of players to fill the rosters for the Roughnecks and the Ravens, Vancouver's expansion team – there are many local players who were talented enough to make the NLL, but many of them couldn’t commit to the East Coast teams for financial or family reasons.
So the Roughnecks tapped the local market, nabbing three players from Calgary – Toth, John Kilbride and Jason Wulder – and assembling a roster of players mostly from Alberta and B.C. They found plenty of offensive talent, which is just right for the high-scoring lacrosse league – the average game has scores in the double digits, with a "great" goalie letting in 10 goals a game.
The Roughnecks coach, 20-year lacrosse coaching veteran Chris Hall, has the challenge of finding players who can keep the ball out of the Calgary net and making sure his defence is ready for the season. NLL league rules allow for only one practice per week during the season – a unique rule designed to prevent teams with an entire roster of players who live near the city in which they play from having an advantage over teams that fly most of their players in for games.
"Not only is it a very effective rule, but it's also very creative. It puts everyone on a level playing field," says Hall, who has coached at nearly every professional and amateur level in field and box lacrosse, including a stint as the coach of the Canadian national lacrosse team. Hall had wanted to coach in the NLL, but logistically it didn't make sense for him because he lived on Vancouver Island and the league is based on the East Coast – now he is getting his chance.
With a big-time pro team in the city, the lacrosse community in Calgary is preparing for a surge in new players for next year. The Calgary District Lacrosse Association has grown in membership about 30 per cent every year for the last several seasons, and according to CDLA President Toni-Marie Staus, they are starting next season’s planning sessions early, with expectations that the Roughnecks will create quite a stir among youngsters.
"We've just been growing in leaps and bounds the last couple of years," says Staus, who counts 1,500 or so lacrosse players in the Calgary area. "When the team hits town, I think we're going to see just remarkable growth. And we're really hopeful that with the Roughnecks that we get a little higher profile and maybe a little more space."
Banister feels the city is ready for pro lacrosse, and even though there are plenty of sporting events to attend in Calgary, once the Saddledome starts rocking with NLL games, excitement will grow throughout the city.
"Calgary is hungry for a sport like this. I believe they're ready to be roughed up."
The Roughnecks will play the Ravens in their first exhibition games on November 2 and 3 in Vernon and Prince George, B.C.. The first home game, against the Montreal Express, takes place November 24 at 1:30 p.m. at the Saddledome, and is the season opener. For more information, visit the Web site at www.calgaryroughnecks.com. |
