Leclerc’s No Lame Duck

This is one tough piece of Jerky.

Matt Cullen saw that right off.

The Mighty Ducks’ training camp was still in its third day in 1997 and school was in session.

There was Dave Karpa, a gorilla-like defenseman and one of the nastier players in the NHL, his reputation made clear by a playing career that read like a rap sheet.

And there was Mike Leclerc -- Jerky to his friends and teammates -- the soft-spoken guy Cullen barely knew. But Leclerc was on the ice, tangling with the playground bully.

“Jerky didn’t waste any time setting the tone, he went right after Karpa,” said Cullen, who played five-plus seasons with the Ducks before being traded to Florida in January. “You just didn’t expect it from Mike. He was so quiet off the ice. He hardly said a word. But, man, did he give Karpa a run for his money that day. That was an eye opener. I decided to make friends with Jerky.”

That edge is dulled a bit by nagging injuries but the toughness remains. Leclerc has shown it throughout the Ducks’ playoff run, making key plays that have won games. He has either scored or assisted on the winning goal in six of the Ducks’ last 10 playoff victories, even though he’s playing on a sore left knee that will require a second surgery in the off-season.

“This has helped a lot,” Leclerc said. “We got to the playoffs and I just wanted to find a way to help the team, find a way to make a contribution. That’s the whole point for me, contributing. I think I have done that so far.”

Repeatedly.

A peek at Leclerc’s medical chart shows the pain he has been in since he arrived in Anaheim. A quick glance at the Duck stat sheet shows the pain he has caused opponents since the playoffs began:

October, 1996: Surgery on left elbow, missed 11 games.

Game 1 vs. Dallas: Assisted on Petr Sykora’s game-winner 48 seconds into fifth overtime for 4-3 victory.

December, 2000: Surgery on right knee, missed 15 games.

Game 2 vs. Dallas: Scored 1:44 into overtime for 3-2 victory.

March, 2001: Strained stomach muscle, missed 15 games.

Game 4 vs. Dallas: Scored with 1:47 left for a 1-0 victory.

November, 2002: Surgery on right elbow, missed one game.

Game 6 vs. Dallas: Assisted on Sandis Ozolinsh’s goal with 1:06 left for a 4-3 victory that wrapped up the series.

November, 2002: Surgery on left knee, missed 10 games.

Game 1 vs. Minnesota: Assisted on Sykora’s overtime goal for a 2-1 victory over the Wild.

January, 2002: Sore left knee, missed 10 games.

Game 4 vs. Minnesota: Assisted on Adam Oates’ game-winning goal in the second period of a 2-1 victory that wrapped up the Western Conference championship.

The run of success has allowed Leclerc to walk away from this season with more positive memories, and maybe even the Stanley Cup. The Ducks and New Jersey are tied, 2-2, in the best-of-seven series, with Game 5 Thursday night at New Jersey.

Leclerc doesn’t have a point through the first four games, but his physical play, banging Devil players around, has been a factor in the Ducks getting back into the series after they were pushed around in the first two games.

“Everyone has always expected so much from him and Jerky has always expected a lot from himself,” Cullen said. “He really got frustrated with all those small injuries that hindered him. Now he’s getting a chance on the big stage and he has been just unbelievable. His size, his abilities and his toughness are on display.”

David McNab, the Ducks’ assistant general manager, saw all those qualities in Leclerc when he was playing for Brandon, a junior hockey team two hours from his hometown, Winnipeg.

“He was a big guy who could skate, handle the puck, score,” McNab said. “Those are easy guys to like.”

The Ducks drafted Leclerc in the third-round of the 1995 draft. He made an immediate impact in camp.

“It didn’t take long for everyone in camp to see how tough Mike was,” Cullen said. “I decided I was going to get tight with him. I’m no dummy. I liked hanging around guys like Mike, Jim McKenzie, Stu Grimson, out on the ice.”

McKenzie and Grimson were tough guys, paid to retaliate against opponents who got out of line. Leclerc’s toughness could produce goals.

“The only question was whether he was fast enough,” said Jack Ferriera, the Ducks’ general manager from 1993-98. “He was always tough. He always had hands. He always had the knack for scoring goals.

“He came into camp and wasn’t in the greatest of shape, which is not unlike a lot of kids from junior hockey. Give him credit, he worked hard and became a player. He deserves every bit of this right now.”

What Leclerc didn’t deserve were the constant starts and stops to his NHL career.

The Ducks were waiting for him to become the big nasty his skills and size indicated he could be. Yet every time he stood up and flashed that potential, an injury would knock him back down.

Injuries negated good starts, limiting him to 69 games in 1999-2000 and 54 in 2000-01.

“I haven’t had every joint operated on, just my elbows and knees,” Leclerc said. “None of them have been major, nothing important was damaged. It never worried me too much.”

It just frustrated him.

In 2001-02, Leclerc played in all 82 games, scoring 20 goals, in what seemed to be his breakout season. This season, he got off to a fast start, scoring 11 points in the first 16 games and brutalizing opponents with checks.

Late in a game at Columbus on Nov. 14, Leclerc went behind the net and forced a turnover that resulted in a goal by Steve Rucchin and a 3-2 Duck victory.

The next night in Detroit, Leclerc seemed invisible on the ice. Four days later, he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Leclerc returned in December, then was sidelined in January when the knee acted up again. When he returned, he spent a month as a game-day decision. “It got to a point where I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Leclerc said. “I would play and it would swell up, so I would back off and it would get worse. I wasn’t skating well, my balance was bad. Finally, I just decided, ‘To heck with it.’ I began practicing every day, worked to get in better shape and just played on it.”

Leclerc played the last 19 games of the regular season, finishing with nine goals and 28 points in 57 games. But that stretch built up his strength for the playoffs.

“Just having his size and gritty play out there is important,” Duck defenseman Keith Carney said. “He finishes checks and is a big guy in front of the net. That creates room for his linemates. He has had a tough season and now he’s definitely being rewarded.”

The Ducks are reaping rewards as well because of Leclerc.

It was Leclerc’s slick pass that led to what might have been the biggest goal of the playoffs, against Detroit in Game 1 of the first round. He connected with Adam Oates, who tipped in the puck to tie the score, 1-1, with four minutes left in the first period of Game 1.

Had the Ducks gone into the first intermission trailing, the whole series might have played out differently. That can be left for speculation. As it was, the Ducks won when Paul Kariya scored in the third overtime for a 2-1 victory.

The Ducks then swept the defending champion Red Wings and rolled through the Western Conference bracket.

Leclerc has gathered no moss along the way.

“Everything has been worthwhile this season because of the playoffs,” he said. “The regular season was tough.”

But, then, so is Leclerc.