Toth has T-Men turning corner
GAME DAY: NANAIMO AT VICTORIA, 7:30 P.M.
As one of the great offensive threats of his era, Kaleb Toth had a remarkable level of success on floors across the country. So much so he needs two hands to fit his championship rings after winning a total of three professional National Lacrosse League titles in Toronto and Calgary, two Western Lacrosse Association championships in Victoria with the Shamrocks, a Minto Cup national Junior A title in Burnaby and a gold medal with Canada at the world championship.
But that championship pedigree did not follow him to Nanaimo. In eight seasons as a player with the Timbermen, followed now by five seasons as head coach, Toth has made the WLA playoffs just once. That was in 2007, which meant the Timbermen playoff drought reached a full decade last season.
But things are turning around in Harbour City boxla as the Timbermen, who have steadily built through the draft, are 4-5-1 and are residing in fourth place and a playoff position at the halfway point of the 2018 WLA season after going undefeated in their last three games at 2-0-1.
The improving Timbermen are at The Q Centre tonight to take on the annual WLA-contender Shamrocks (5-3) in the suddenly competitive Island derby, which stands at 1-1 this season.
Retaining players used to be hard for Nanaimo when even drafted players found excuses to slither away. Nobody wanted to be a Timberman.
“We’ve been through a lot of players, but we changed the mentality,” said Toth.
“Recruiting was tough. Players from Victoria and the Lower Mainland did not want to play for a team that was not making the playoffs, so we had to rely a lot on local players.”
Then the Timbermen used some tough love in recent years and have held players to their draft obligations.
“We stood our ground, and made the players report, and made the players we drafted play for us,” said Toth.
It was more a reach-out than a harsh approach because Toth wanted those players to want to play for Nanaimo.
“We explained to the players what we are trying to build and accomplish in Nanaimo and that it is not a right, but a privilege, to play in the WLA for the team that wants you and selected you.”
The results have not been overly dramatic but the franchise is turning things around. Players such as 2017 WLA rookie of the year Chase Fraser, former Junior Shamrocks star Brody Eastwood, pro NLL Colorado Mammoth defensive stalwart Jordon Gilles, Mammoth offensive sniper Ryan Lee and promising sophomore and former Shamrock Evan Messenger are among the players making a difference.
“We’ve built it from scratch and done a great job with our draft picks” said Toth.
“We’ve added player who want to be here. This is the core group of players, that is young and fast with a solid back end, that will take us through the next five to 10 years.”
After a decade of despair, there is a more hopeful decade ahead for the Timbermen.
“I stayed loyal to Nanaimo lacrosse and it has stayed loyal to me,” said Toth, who also played in the Western Hockey League and pro hockey in the ECHL.
The rewards of that mutual trust are only just becoming evident.
The Shamrocks lost Toth’s prodigious talent to the Timbermen in the 2005 expansion draft when Nanaimo re-entered the WLA. The Shamrocks went on to win the 2005 Mann Cup without Toth, but he remembers fondly his 1999 and 2003 Mann Cup championships in Victoria and the old Memorial Arena.
“It’s always Victoria and Peterborough [Ontario] that are mentioned when players discuss the best fans in Senior A lacrosse,” said Toth, a lacrosse legend in his native Calgary, and the all-time NLL pro Roughnecks franchise leader in games, goals and points.
“That Victoria support has continued on [at The Q Centre] and we always look forward to the atmosphere and coming down-Island to play in front of the Shamrocks fans.”
Even though, with a chuckle, Toth noted the occasional bit of heckling he might get on the Nanaimo bench from those Victoria fans who once so lustily cheered him on.