Kaleb Toth always dreamed he'd suit up at Maple Leaf Gardens.

The thought of playing in the grand old building built by Conn Smythe and inhabited by the ghosts of so many great hockey players of yesterday was the dream of thousands of young players.

Toth is living out that dream -- sort of.

The Calgarian has switched his sports, trading his hockey stick for the lacrosse model and suiting up this season with the National Lacrosse League's defending champion Toronto Rock, who take on the Rochester Knighthawks in a rematch of last year's NLL final Saturday (1:00 PM).

"Even though the Leafs don't play there anymore, it's still pretty exciting. It's a historic landmark," said the Calgarian of the fabled barn. "It's a fun thing to play there in front of 15,000 fans."

Hockey was the first love for Toth, 22, who spent four years in the Western Hockey League with Prince Albert, Moose Jaw and Lethbridge.

After graduating from the loop with 176 points in 259 games, he spent last season with the East Coast Hockey League's Chesapeake Ice Breakers, and scored 26 goals en route to being named the team's top rookie.

However, with that team's move to Jacksonville, he took stock of his career on the ice.

"I don't know what my future is in hockey," he said. "I was having fun, but I don't want to spend 10 years in the East Coast league and have nothing to show for it."

He decided to look into his lacrosse options.

The Rock's first-round choice, second overall in the 1998 draft, Toth spent the summer with the Victoria Shamrocks of the Western Lacrosse Association, where he was part of the Mann Cup-winning team that had such players as the Gait twins, Paul and Gary, who are regarded as the best players in the world.

Even though a huge amount of players suit up in both leagues, he said the style of play is a lot different.

"It's a lot quicker, but not as physical," he said. "But in this league, everyone can play. All the top players are here. It's like an all-star league."

So can he.

Toth -- who flies to Toronto from Calgary a couple of days before the games -- finished the 12-game regular season with 18 goals and 22 assists for 40 points. Good for fifth in team scoring. The 6-foot-tall, 195-pound right-handed shooter was also named the league's player of the week earlier in the season after a five-point performance, three goals and two assists, against the Syracuse Smash.

Toth, who is paid $400 US per game, said he needed that breakout game for a couple of reasons.

"In my first game, I scored a couple of goals, but then went into a little slump. I was hitting a lot of posts," he said.

"I didn't have a lot of confidence and I don't think the guys all had confidence in me. Being new to a team with so many guys back from last year, they all didn't know where I'd be and didn't get the ball to me."