Cody McLeod Fights vs Minnesota Wild Display Leadership

The Fight, Part 1

It all started… well, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when the rivalry with the Minnesota Wild started, but the latest eruption started last weekend during the February 28 game at the Pepsi Center. Tempers were high as the Wild beat the Avalanche yet again. Fights were erupting in stands that saw nearly as many Wild fans as Avs fans. Nathan MacKinnon ended up with a broken nose, and the Wild were whining that smallish defenseman Tyson Barrie (5-foot-10, 190 pounds) was gooning it up against Wild Defenseman Nate Prosser (6-foot-2, 210 pounds). Yeah — ugly night.

Head coach Patrick Roy made a controversial move when he put McLeod on the ice with just a few seconds left in a game the Avs were clearly going to lose. From the Wild perspective, it looked as if Roy was starting his goon line. Yet McLeod had been moving up and down the line-up for weeks — Roy runs a meritocracy, and McLeod had been contributing. Yes, Roy was probably sending one of his stalwart foot soldiers in place of a skill player on the ice because of the nature of the game, but McLeod is far more than a mere goon.

That said, McLeod did run smallish forward Mikael Grunland (Barrie size) with a legal but harsh hit:

That resulted in the fight with Minnesota energy player Charlie Coyle. The Minnesota Wild called McLeod goonish, claiming he only hits small players. I don’t know why he targeted Grunland, but McLeod hits everybody with energy, no matter the size. It’s part of his role on the team.

McLeod beat Coyle soundly, by the way, and that went a long way toward soothing Avs fans’ irritation at the continued beating at the hands of the Wild.

The Fight, Part 2

The fallout from the Avalanche-Wild game in Pepsi Center lasted all week. Both teams played their scheduled games with attention, but everyone had Sunday’s game circled on the calendar.

Minnesota Star Tribune writer Michael Russo wrote inflammatory words about McLeod:

"“McLeod, 30, has run around against the Wild for seven years, going after everyone from Marian Gaborik to Eric Belanger. The most infamous of his runs came after Christmas in 2011. Flying in on the forecheck, McLeod put his forearm across the bottom of [Jared] Spurgeon’s No. 46 and rode the smallish defenseman violently into the wall.”"

That’s followed by Spurgeon’s remark that McLeod only finishes his checks against the smaller guys and Russo’s observation that the game was sure to get physical.

Coach Roy didn’t like that. He has shown time and again that he’ll go to bat for his players, and he did so again in an interview with Twin Cities writer Chad Graff. He pointed out that McLeod is not a goon, considering he’d had 18 minutes of playing time in a recent game. He added:

"“Cody is a warrior for us. He’s a player that 29 teams would love to have. He’s very special, he’s a leader on our team, he’s wearing an ‘A’ on his jersey, he’s playing hard for us every night, he loves to win, he hates to lose. He is a great role model for our young players.”"

Less than a minute into the final game of the season between the two teams, McLeod did drop the gloves with Minnesota’s new acquisition — and former Avalanche — Chris Stewart.

It had to happen. The emotions of the game were high. McLeod was a marked man — all our players were. The Avalanche were in their building, and coach Mike Yeo had already shown his own willingness to unleash his rugged players on our skill guys. And he had the last change.

So, yes, McLeod had to defuse the tensions. And in this case, he took a beating to do so. After that, the Avalanche were free to work their skill players, and they won the game 3-2.

That’s leadership.

Oh, so’s his scoring the first non-flukey goal of the season against this most hated of teams. Like I said, McLeod is not simply an enforcer. He’s an energy player who can score.

He’s our alternate captain for that reason.

Next: McLeod's Unusual Goal Celebration

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