Central Hockey League: Leveille finally feels at home in Odessa

Comfort plays a very big part in a hockey player’s success on the ice.

The weight of a stick in his hands, the curve of the blade, the fit of his skates all factor in to performance on the ice.

Off the ice, players need to feel relaxed as well, especially in a sport that can put several different languages in the same locker room.

Odessa Jackalopes forward Dominic Leveille finally looks and feels comfortable on the ice — and he’s making things very uncomfortable for opposing goalies.

“I’m feeling pretty good right now, getting more comfortable,” Leveille said. “The team is really playing well too, so that’s good.

“I was able to work out more often this summer and I think it’s paying off so far. I’m having a lot of fun out there this year; it’s hard not to have fun when your team is winning.

In 20 games this year, Leveille has scored six goals and added 25 assists for 31 points, second in the Central Hockey League.

That has helped the Jackalopes to the best record into the league at 15-3-2 heading into tonight’s Southern Conference matchup with the Laredo Bucks at 7:05 p.m. at Ector County Coliseum.

Leveille, however, wasn’t always this comfortable on the ice, or in a professional locker room.

His first foray into the professional ranks came in the 2003-04 season when he played 11 games for the Oklahoma City Blazers, at the time one of the top teams in the league.

Leveille came into a locker room filed with veteran players such as Marty Standish, Blair Manning, Hardy Sauter and Tyler Fleck.

Making matters worse was the language barrier as Leveille, who grew up in St. Jerome, Quebec, Canada spoke French and while he understood what he needed to do on the ice, having conversations with his teammates was difficult.

“It was a tough time for me,” Leveille said. “But it helped me in that I knew I had to get better at English. I’m grateful for the chance that Oklahoma City gave me, but it wasn’t the right spot for me.”

The Permian Basin, it turns out, would be.

After not playing professional hockey in 2004-05, Leveille was convinced by childhood friend Sebastien Thinel to sign with the Jackalopes and the rest is team history — or soon will be.

In his first season with Odessa, Leveille scored 81 points with 26 goals and a team-record 55 assists and finished second in the CHL’s Rookie of the Year voting.

He and Thinel then both left for France to play alongside Thinel’s brother, Marc-Andre, in Rouen. Though the language was familiar, Leveille again found himself out of his comfort level on the ice and after just 10 games, was headed back to Canada, where he played a couple of games in a local league before hanging his skates up for the rest of the season.

“France was good, but it wasn’t right,” Leveille said. “Another learning experience, I guess.”

Learning as well during that time was the new ownership group of the Jackalopes, led by Rick Gasser and Bill and Tracey Nyborn. They knew that they had a dynamic duo that had been successful before, but in order to get Leveille back to Odessa, Thinel somehow would have be enticed back, too.

Mission accomplished in 2007 and with a new coach, Paul Gillis, behind the bench, Leveille returned to the Jackalopes and picked up right where he left off.

In 2007-08, he scored 81 points (32-49) in 61 games and last season, added another 80 points (26-54) to the mix.

Still, there was something missing and Gillis and Leveille had a talk after the Jackalopes were eliminated by the Texas Brahmas in the Southern Conference Finals.

“Dominic is a skilled player and makes everyone on the ice better,” Gillis said. “The thing with Dom is that we were trying to get him to be more of a two-way hockey player and to battle harder in defensive situations.

“I think he’s made a huge improvement this year and we are still getting the same offense, he’s still producing well, but at the same token he’s more responsible defensively, he’s working harder without the puck, he’s definitely been a better teammate and I think that he’s really enjoying what he’s doing this year.”

That’s the key for Leveille, that’s he’s enjoying the way things are going for the Jackalopes and himself this season.

But he knows that everything can change in a moment in this league, with teams running hot and cold or a key injury knocking a player out of the lineup for an extended period of time.

That’s why he’s enjoying every moment.

“This is a great group of guys and I think that one of the things that the ownership group wanted to do, after coming so close last year to winning a championship, was to bring most of the same guys back this year,” Leveille said. “We are comfortable with each other and we know what we can and can’t do on the ice.

“We’ve added a few new pieces to the puzzle and things have started well. Now, we just have to keep working hard in practice and battle every night during the games.”