He took an entire sport by storm, won national acclaim and inspired a generation of First Nations athletes.
But Reggie Leach is the first to admit he’s made his share of missteps.
“There’s a lot of bad choices people make, but they don’t own up to their mistakes. They blame everybody else,” he says. “And that’s one of the things that I’m a strong believer in, is that any choice you make, nobody forces you to do that choice. You did it yourself and you have to take responsibility for it.”
That philosophy helps form the basis of Leach’s long-awaited memoir, The Riverton Rifle: My story – Straight Shooting on Hockey and on Life, now available online and in bookstores.
The book takes readers through Leach’s life journey, from his days as a hockey prospect in Riverton, Manitoba, and star with the Flin Flon Bombers, to his memorable NHL career and retirement.
Part autobiography, part advice column, the book touches on the Teachings of the Seven Grandfathers, a group of lessons emphasized in Leach’s aboriginal culture.
Leach touts the 224-page text as an easy read for children and adults. One thing it is not is a gut-spilling tell-all, or, to borrow his term, a “show and tell.”
“You’re not going to find any crazy parties that happened back in the ’70s,” he says. “There’s no swearing in the book.
“If [people] want a show and tell, go buy the other hockey books.”
Still, the book stands as a revealing look at hockey’s first aboriginal superstar.
Leach, 65, includes a chapter on Flin Flon, where he spent four seasons as an unstoppable offensive force. He famously spent three of those seasons as Bobby Clarke’s linemate.
Leach remembers his Flin Flon years as the “best time of my life.”
“I always tell everybody I came to Flin Flon as a young native kid and when I left Flin Flon four years later, I left as a young man,” he says. “And I learnt a lot. The people in Flin Flon were wonderful.”
Years before joining the Bombers, Leach realized he had a gift for hockey when he took up the game at age 10.
“It just came natural to me, but I didn’t really realize how good I was until I came to the Bombers,” he says. “I always say that Bobby Clarke and I, we pushed each other to the limit.”
If there’s a fallacy about Leach’s ascent from the Whitney Forum to NHL stardom, he says, it’s that he did it all himself.
“Everybody thinks that guys that make it to the pros…did it all [on] their own,” he says. “No, they didn’t. Nobody does it on their own. The whole community is behind you. I had Riverton behind me. I had all the people in Flin Flon that were there for years and years supporting you and everything else. We were just lucky enough, Bob Clarke and myself, that we moved on. There’s tons of hockey players that play junior hockey and they only go to a certain level.”
Another misconception is that Leach’s past struggles with alcoholism were long-lasting. In fact, they amounted to just two of his 65 years.
“That’s just a very small part of my life,” he says.
Today Leach lives an unassuming life with his wife on Omni Kaning First Nation, a reserve of about 450 people in Ontario. There, he considers himself just another resident.
Leach’s most loyal fans still push to get him into the Hockey Hall of Fame. While he respects their efforts, he’s not attached to the outcome.
At this point in his life, Leach just wants to give back. It’s why he wrote his book. And it’s why, 30-plus years after his pro career ended, he maintains the respect of the hockey world.
Leach will be in Flin Flon on Saturday, Dec. 12 for book signings at the Flin Flon Public Library (11 am to 2 pm) and the Whitney Forum (6 pm and during the first intermission of the Bomber game).
That same day, Leach will speak about his life and hockey career at the library (12 noon) and drop the ceremonial puck at the Whitney Forum before the Bombers take on the Melville Millionaires.
