The Insider Interview - The Texas Brahmas' Kevin Mcleod

The dynamic defenseman looks back at a productive season and forward to a championship goal

After being limited at Cornell University, Kevin McLeod had a breakout rookie season with the Texas Brahmas. The six-foot-three, 238 pound forward switched to defenseman and came out of the gate strong, scoring 34 points (12 G, 22 A) with 60 penalty minutes. He played in all 14 post-season games scoring 8 points (1 G, 7 A) with 16 penalty minutes.

The 23-year-old native of Calgary, Alberta spent three seasons at Cornell University but played in only 13 contests scoring just two points on assists.

Prior to that, McLeod played a season of junior hockey at the AJHL's Camrose Kodiaks and Calgary Canucks. He played in 55 contests and tallied 44 points (11 G, 33 A) with 66 penalty minutes.

I spoke to Kevin by telephone at Cornell University where he is training with former Brahma Doug Krantz, who recently signed with the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL).

Q: How did you end up at Cornell University?

A: Their coaches recruited me out of junior. It was the right fit for me at the right time. I really enjoyed it there. I came down to visit and loved it. I just fell in love with the place and ended up coming here.

Q: Throughout your career at Cornell, you didn't play in a lot of games. Was there a particular reason for that?

A: None that I really want to discuss, to tell you the truth. It was just circumstances. We had a lot of good players. I just didn't fit into the lineup. I needed to adjust my attitude is basically what it came down to. It was frustrating but at the same time it helped me become a better hockey player. I learned to work harder.

Q: And you got a good education on top of that, right?

A: Yeah, I can't complain about the degree.

Q: Did you know Doug Krantz when he was attending Cornell?

A: Yeah, he is a year younger than me. We've known each other for a while now. He's actually here right now; I'm working out with him.

Q: And he signed with an ECHL team, the Wheeling Nailers?

A: Yeah, and he's also on an AHL and I believe an NHL camp.

Q: After college, how did you end up getting hooked up with the Brahmas?

A: I believe it was one of their former teammates in Shreveport, Jeremy Downs (played at Cornell 2001-04). I think he gave Fonger (Brahmas head coach Dan Wildfong) a call and told him that I was around, looking for a place to play. Obviously with my college stats, I didn't look like a very appealing player to most coaches. Fonger gave me a call one day and offered me a tryout and it went from there.

Q: How did the tryout go with the Brahmas?

A: I was a little bit nervous coming in to tell you the truth. I wasn't sure if I was going to be playing forward or defense. I found out the first day that I was playing defense. There was a lot of good D men there so I was a little nervous but it went well for me. I played well and they said they liked how I played.

Q: Did you have any familiarity with the Central Hockey League at that time?

A: A little bit because a few guys from Cornell that graduated the year before me, they played in Shreveport so we had heard about it, but other than Shreveport I hadn't heard a lot about the CHL.

Q: Dan Wildfong has a great background and reputation as a player. He's kind of an intimidating guy when you first meet him. What was your first impression of meeting Dan?

A: I didn't really hear about him that much before I got down there, but I heard more about him when I got there; about him playing and his intimidation. He is an intimidating guy to a lot of people but he's also a very nice guy when you get to know him. He's a good guy, I like him. He intimidated me at first.

Q: How was the bonding experience with the other players?

A: I was actually pretty surprised. Not too many guys knew each other but everyone was obviously there for the same reason. The guys were all just a great group of guys and everyone bonded very well.

Q: How did you feel about your performance in your rookie season?

A: I thought it went well for me. I think at times I was a little inconsistent. I could have been better during that middle stretch of the season. I felt that I could have played a lot better. I put up a few points that I really wasn't expecting to do. I was happy with everything. Overall, the season was good for me but it was better as a team, to tell you the truth.

Q: After being suppressed at Cornell since you really didn't get to play a lot, you were really able to come out and show what you could do here for the Brahmas in your first year pro. Was that a good feeling to finally get the opportunity to show what you were capable of?

A: Yeah, I think the best part about it was just knowing that I could contribute still. The biggest problem for me at school here was having the feeling that I wasn't contributing enough to where the team was going, so this past year it was really good to know that I had a big part in it; well, I like to think that I had a big part in it.

Q: Do you have a favorite memory of the season, a favorite series or anything in particular that went down?

A: I think any game against Shreveport was a big game. I think my personal favorite memory of the season was the overtime win against Shreveport when I believe we sold the place out. I don't know when it was though; close to the end of the season (March 1st). Just having the fans at a sold out rink against Shreveport, it's always a good game.

Q: Is there anywhere that you think you need to improve personally that you'd like to focus on for the upcoming season?

A: Yeah, I'd like to improve all around on my defensive play. I'm still learning to play the position. I need to work on my body position, gap control, stuff like that. And then always, just work on conditioning, skating; everything can always improve.

Q: Coming in from playing forward and then learning you were going to play D, how was that adjustment for you?

A: It was a little bit difficult. I played defense during my senior year at school so it wasn't too bad. The D zone was a little bit of a different set up. One was more of a man-on-man, the other was more of a zone so it was a little bit difficult to adjust to that. Other than that it wasn't too bad. I kind of enjoy it.

Q: Was it helpful having a guy like Craig Minard out there, being the D Captain; was he really helpful to your development?

A: Yeah, all the older guys were all extremely helpful to me, like Vellinga, Minzy, Justin Kinnunen. All of those guys taught me different things and I mean, I like to feed off of guys like that. Minzy and Juice were obviously a bit more offensive than Mike so I feel like I fit in a little bit more with them but Vellinga is solid defensively and he was good to play with last year.

Q: You were generally in the tunnel greeting the players as they went out on the ice. Is that something that you just wanted to do?

A: It started off early in the year. I don't even know how it started. It just became a little bit of a superstition of mine. A couple of other guys had a couple of things that they liked to do so it just fit in well and I enjoyed doing it.

Q: What are you doing to keep in shape off-season?

A: I'm up in Ithaca, at Cornell, using their facility. A lot of weights, bike, skating quite a bit. Just a normal off-season routine. I'm trying to watch what I eat.

Q: Were you surprised by the amount of physical play in the CHL?

A: No, not really. Physical play is something I've never shied away from. Cornell plays a very physical game. The ECAC is very physical. So it wasn't much of an adjustment. The major adjustment in the CHL for me was the overall pace of the game. That was basically the major difference.

Q: The old rivalry with the Mudbugs continues and with the divisional realignment, the new rivalry for the Brahmas will be with the Laredo Bucks, a very physical team; a team that won the championship a couple of years ago. Are you looking forward to these rivalries with the Mudbugs and the Bucks?

A: Yeah, anytime you can get rivalry games, they're always easy to get up for. It's really good to build a new rivalry with Laredo while keeping the old one with Shreveport. It just makes those games that much more important for us. Laredo has always been a good team in the CHL from what I've been told. It'll be good to see them a few more times. And then Shreveport obviously, it's great to go to their rink; it's great to play on our rink. The fans are great at both rinks. I love playing all of those rivalry games.

Q: It looks like the new division for the Brahmas is going to be tough, not that you didn't have a tough time being in the Northeast Division. You've got a re-born Corpus Christi team, kind of going though a similar situation as the Brahmas last season, you've got Rio Grande Valley, who was kind of a pushover last year in most senses of the word really re-vamping with some hardcore players, and then of course, Laredo who you'll play the most games with. How do you feel about switching divisions and looking at new teams?

A: I don't really think that it'll change the way that we view the upcoming season much. We still have our goals that we want to accomplish. I think we only played Rio Grande a couple of times last year, Corpus Christi, I couldn't tell you, we played them a few times. It'll be fun to play some new teams a little more often.

Q: How do you feel about the Brahmas fans personally, how they treated you?

A: The fans are unbelievable. The fan club especially. The treated us very well from day one when we moved in; they had everything at the apartments. They never hesitated if you asked them for something or needed a favor. During the games, the fans were great. They were loud; they were everything you could ask for from a pro hockey fan, basically.

Q: What did you think of North Richland Hills? Coming from new York and Calgary, you're used to a different climate and the people. How did you feel about the area when you got down here?

A: I was actually familiar with the area a little bit. I stayed down there by Irving the previous Summer with a couple of buddies so I knew a little bit about the area. It was good. I really enjoy it. Everything you need is right around you. The people are all very nice people. Once again, they were pretty accommodating with everything. I enjoyed the area.

Q: The NYTEX Sports Centre is an intimate facility; what was you feeling about playing there and the level of intimacy that you had with the crowd?

A: It was a little bit different at first. The rink itself is great. The stands, they're right on top of you so you get a feeling that there's a lot of people there. When they're that loud during games, it really helps out. I had no problem playing there. I enjoy it a lot. It's nice when the fans are as good as they are.

Q: Do you have anything in particular you'd like to say to the Brahmas fans for this upcoming campaign?

A: Just that I hope they continue to support us and hopefully we can win a championship for them.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith