Cody McLeod: From Outhouse (Avalanche) to Penthouse (Predators)

“Hey Dater!”

The voice at the other end of the cell line is instantly recognizable. It’s Cody McLeod, The Highlander himself, No. 55 on your score sheet, No. 1 in your hearts. In three days, McLeod will be in Pittsburgh playing in the Stanley Cup Finals for the Nashville Predators, so there are probably more important things on his agenda at the moment than returning a Denver reporter’s phone call on a Friday afternoon.

The fact that McLeod took the time to make the call in the midst of probably the busiest time of his life says it all about the man.

“How’s things in Denver?” McLeod says. “I love where I’m at right now. But I’ll always love Denver. My family and I probably will move back when all is said and done.”

Cody McLeod has always looked on the sunny side of life. How else should a farm boy from Binscarth, Manitoba, a kid with hockey talent by the thimble but heart by the mile, who has spent a decade in the NHL now, view the world?

In January, McLeod was a frequent healthy scratch on the worst NHL team, it would prove in the end, of the last 25 years. On Friday, McLeod had 12 playoff games to his credit this spring with the Predators. On Monday, Nashville will play the first Stanley Cup Finals game in its history. It’s not a guarantee the 32-year-old red-headed left wing will be in the lineup for Game 1, but things worked out pretty well for Preds coach Peter Laviolette after he decided to play McLeod following an inactive first-round series win over Chicago.

The Predators defeated the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals earlier this week, and McLeod was right there on the ice in a raucous Bridgestone Arena when it was over, posing for pictures with the rest of his team.

“It was definitely a great moment, something that will go in the scrap book for sure,” said McLeod, who was traded by the Avs on Jan. 13, in his 10th straight season with the team. “When you think how different things were just a few months ago, it’s pretty wild.”

Despite receiving little ice time in his final season with the Avs under coach Jared Bednar, McLeod takes the high road when asked about it.

“We didn’t win as a team, so there were going to be changes. I wish we could have gotten on a better run. But it didn’t happen. I have nothing but great memories of my time with the Avs, and of Denver. I’m really appreciative of everything they did for me, and for giving me a chance someplace else,” McLeod said.

McLeod was always an audacious presence with the Avs, never afraid of any situation. His rookie year with the team, when the Avs were playing Detroit in the second round of the playoffs, he grabbed the traditionally-flung octopus off the Joe Louis Arena ice and flung it right back in the stands. One time, in Anaheim that same rookie season on an off day, the Avs had a catered-in spread featuring cheese burgers from a local establishment. As the team headed toward the bus after practice at the Arrowhead Pond, there were still some burgers left uneaten. McLeod loudly urged radio color man Norm Jones to have one. When Jones demurred, McLeod bellowed, “Come on Norm, get another one in ya!”

When McLeod was traded, one of his children was in the middle of her kindergarten year, so his family stayed behind while he went to Nashville. That was the toughest part, being away from them, but now that the family knows where he’ll be, regardless of what happens when the series with Pittsburgh is over, they have moved down to Nashville.

McLeod’s first game with Nashville, Jan. 14, just happened to come against the Avs at the Pepsi Center. With the Preds down 2-0, he thought, “What better time than this” to try to animate the bench of his new team, so he initiated a fight against Avs veteran Jarome Iginla. After serving the penalty, McLeod scored a goal and the Preds went on to a victory. He has been a valued member of the team since, playing his usual bone-crushing style while chipping in the occasional goal.

Now, he’s four wins away from getting his name etched on the Stanley Cup.

Life is good. No matter what, The Highlander always has a gap-toothed smile.

“This is what you dream about as a kid, getting to play for the Cup,” he said. “I know I’m going to try and make the most of it.”

If there had to be a country song that best describes McLeod’s life now, it would have to be one by Toby Keith:

“How do you like me now?”