Leonard Kane # Forward

Interview:

1. Leonard, tell us about yourself, where were you born and raised?
I was born in East Preston, Nova Scotia, in 1962. I now live in Dartmouth, which is about fifteen minutes from East Preston.

2. When did you first start playing ball hockey?
I first started playing on the streets when I was ten years old. I used to practice in the basement, full of beer bottles. My father would build the house and it took him so long to build it, I’d put all these bottles in a zig zag and stick handle through them and shoot it in the net. I’d do it for hours some nights.

3. What’s the biggest reason you played ball hockey?
Well, ball hockey and sports kept me out of trouble. It was inexpensive, you only needed a hockey stick, a pair of gloves, and a ball and away you went.

4. How did you mentally prepare for a game?
I’d try not to eat before a game. I’d listen to some music or watch some sports and just get pumped up. I found that playing was a great relief; when you’re out there playing you don’t think about anything else.

5. What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
My dad always said to treat everybody the way you’d want to be treated. That always kept my eyes opens to people of all different races. Everybody’s equal and everybody’s trying to do the same thing. I just love helping people.

6. You started playing in 1980. Were you one of the first black players in the league?
We had a team that was mixed black and white. There were other guys playing with the Halifax Jets, but they were playing in Halifax. There was a team that was all black called the Imperials.

7. What skills do you think are the most valuable in ball hockey?
I think vision, looking for the open man, always thinking about the other player. It’s not so much trying to go through everybody, but a team game. Also, you find with a lot of great ball hockey players are the one’s who had that heart, that extra intangible. 

8.  Who was your role model?
For a life role model I’d have to say Martin Luther King. I believe in a lot of the things he believed in. He believed in doing it without violence. Another role model was my brother Perry. He played high school and junior hockey before me. He’s the one who got me involved in ball hockey.

9. What was your favourite ball hockey team other than your own?
I used to like the Jets. They had a gang of brothers on there. They were quick and they were good. 

10. What’s your favourite thing about playing ball hockey?
Scoring goals. I loved scoring goals. 
I remember a goal I scored at the Nationals against Ontario. We weren’t supposed to beat them and we beat them four to two. This was the first year I went to Calgary and I was chosen as MVP that year. That was the last time they picked the MVP after the round robin. Anyway, were playing Ontario and we had two men in the penalty box for six minutes or nine minutes, we are two men short and we score a goal, and then I scored this goal short handed. I went around three or four guys and I went on a breakaway calling it like a Bob Cole impression, and I said “Bossey, he’s going in, shoots, he scores” I ran around the whole rink to my brother Perry who was in the penalty box and I jumped up on him.

11. What did it mean to represent Nova Scotia at the Nationals?
It was one of the proudest moments of my life. Because a long time before we went there was a team called the Dartmouth Mariners and they kept winning the Provincials all the time and they would go. We got into lots of fights with them, because there was some racial tension. They would never pick my brother and I to go, even thought we had won the scoring races. But then they lost and this other team picked us and that’s how we got to Calgary.
I wanted to know how I compared to the rest of the ball hockey players in Canada. It was great to know I could player with those guys. That was real flattering and a thrill.

12. Who was the best ball hockey player you ever played against?
Probably Dale Wright. He played on my line at the Nationals, but we played against each other forever. I always admired him because he was tough to play against, he had hard shot and he wasn’t dirty. He was a real gentleman. He was my friend too.

13. What’s happening now?
I’m married now. I have a son eighteen, who plays football at St. Mary’s University. I got together with some other guys and we have started coaching on Friday nights in one of the poorer neighborhoods.

14. What’s your most embarrassing athletic moment?
I learned a lesson a long time ago. In the early 80’s we were playing ice hockey and we were leading a team 5-1. The third period was starting and we were playing Truro. I was bragging to a guy, to look at the scoreboard and stuff like that. They came back and beat us 8-5; we didn’t score another goal. I tell the kids I’m coaching now don’t rub it in, play with some comraderieship. Shaking hands was tough that night; I had to keep my head down.
 

Career:

• Nova Scotia Selects