Winnipeg Sun
Saturday April 20, 2002
By Kirk Penton -- Winnipeg Sun

Brad Leeb scored 17 goals in 60 regular games for the Manitoba Moose this season, but a wonky left knee prevented him from contributing to their playoff drive.

The native of Red Deer, Alta., aggravated a tendon injury when he collided with teammate Andre Savage in Manitoba's fourth-last game of the regular season. The injury had previously knocked him out of 13 regular season games and his frustration of having to helplessly watch the playoffs ended last night when the Bridgeport Sound Tigers knocked his team out of the AHL playoffs.

Adding to that helpless feeling was a sense of not being part of the squad.

"You spend a lot of your time by yourself doing your own thing and that's probably why you don't feel a part of the team," said Leeb, who will be a Group 2 free agent this summer. "And that's hard because hockey's a team game and you want to be part of the team.

"We have a close-knit bunch of guys and you feel like an outsider sometimes."

In the meantime, a decision will be made this weekend as to whether or not Leeb will have surgery.

"It's at a point where it's just too loose and maybe it'll be susceptible to injury in the future," he said. "I need my knees for the future, so it's almost like enough is enough, we need to go in and fix it."



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