ENTERTAINMENT

From hockey wingman to 3rd & Lindsley doorman

Jessica Bliss
USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

Nelson Leclair once shared a piece of chicken with Vince Gill.

Nelson Leclair, the doorman at 3rd & Lindsley, waits for the doors to open before a concert Friday, May 20, 2016, in Nashville. A former minor league hockey player and coach, Leclair has spent 25 years working at 3rd & Lindsley.

He approached Toby Keith for an autograph, doing a favor for a shy bartender.

And, not too long ago, he got in a lengthy conversation with Nashville Predators assistant hockey coach Phil Housley. Turns out they have a few experiences in common.

You see, before Leclair became a doorman at local music venue 3rd & Lindsley — a front-of-house post he has occupied for 25 years — he was a wingman.

A native of Kapuskasing, Ontario, an 8,000-resident Canadian paper mill town, Leclair grew up doing what most Northern boys do, playing hockey. As he tells it, he would head out to the ice in 50-below weather, with 20-foot snow drifts so high he would sometimes have to exit his house through a second-floor window. Bundled up, wearing two pairs of socks and skates, he would play frigid early morning games, once earning a stick slice above the right corner of his mouth that required five stitches and caused his mom to shout, "You're never gonna play that game again."

But she was wrong. That game set him up for a lengthy career as a minor league hockey player and coach with stops at the Boston Bruins professional training camp and as the Milwaukee Admirals head coach. And it eventually connected him to the man who would give him his second career as 3rd & Lindsley's doorman.

Now, the 75-year-old retired hockey player sits in a director's chair labeled "Nelly's Throne," and with the soles of his black dress shoes dangling above the floor, he sells tickets and reminisces as he listens to some of the best music in town.

'Thrill of a lifetime'

There were only six teams in the NHL — Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, New York, Detroit and Boston — in August 1961, the year Leclair received the letter requesting he attend the Boston Bruins professional training camp. To be invited to the camp distinguished him as one of the top players in the world.

He still chuckles when he reads the correspondence typed on Bruins letterhead.

"Kindly bring your own skates if they are available," he says with a laugh, "so that you will not be hindered breaking in new ones."

The letter is signed by Bruins General Manager Lynn Patrick, a legendary player and coach who was part of one ofhockey's most famous families.

What kin of hockey royalty live in Nashville?

Leclair impressed coaches enough at that camp to earn a spot on the Kingston Frontenacs, an Eastern Professional Hockey League team that served as the Bruins' minor league affiliate. At 21 years old, he got $1,000 to sign and $5,000 to play. It was worth it. During the next two decades, the blond-haired, 5-foot-10 right wing played on more than 15 teams, including five years for the Bruins organization. He played at a time when shoulder pads were like cardboard, stick blades weren't curved and no one wore helmets.

Nelson LeClair

He never made it to the NHL. He blames an off-season baseball injury in 1965 for that.

He hit a ball to the fence and tried to squeeze a triple into a home run. When he neared home plate, he jumped over the catcher to avoid the tag — believing it was smarter than sliding — and got his foot stuck under the base and the catcher's knee. They carried him on a stretcher two blocks to the hospital, where the doctors declared he broke his leg. He missed an entire season of hockey, and, with a pin in his shin, never skated quite the same.

Eventually, he entered the coaching ranks.

His most memorable season came as a player-coach for the Grand Rapids Blades in 1976-77. It was a best-of-seven series, but they played nine games, because if there was a tie back then you had to play another game — no overtime, no shootouts. They won the final 3-1 in Milwaukee. Leclair had two assists in the championship game.

"That was a thrill of a lifetime," he said. "It might as well be the Stanley Cup for me."

Eventually — after a stint as head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals — he found himself in Music City coaching the Nashville South Stars in Municipal Auditorium. The team wasn't excellent, and mid-season 1983, the franchise moved. Leclair retired, making Nashville the last stop for himself, wife Cheryl, and sons Danny and Richard.

But his hockey connections had a new career waiting for him, one perfectly Music City inspired.

His second act

Leclair started playing in an adult hockey league and met Ron Brice.

After games, they used to come over to the bar in a strip mall at the corner of Third Avenue and Lindsley Avenue and have a few drinks. That's how they became friends. Eventually, Brice bought the bar and offered Leclair a job. He loved the idea of meeting new people. He couldn't say no.

3rd & Lindsley sticks to its roots after 25 years

For 25 years now, Leclair has manned the door at the music venue. He works five nights a week, Tuesday through Saturday, posting up a few feet from the entrance. A window covered in concert posters serves as his backdrop, the stage stretches across the venue in front of him. He checks the gold watch on his left wrist. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Not long before the key turns to let people in, Brice stops by with a bundle of bills for at-the-door ticket sales.

To this day, Brice — who is a former college hockey player — raves about LeClair's ice skills.

Head coach Nelson LeClair, right, welcomes defenseman Guy Jacob to the opening day of the Nashville South Stars training camp Oct. 10, 1982, at Municipal Auditorium.

"He's the best player I have ever played with," Brice says, "and he was past his career."

Brice tells a story of the day he had to lend Leclair a helmet to play. Coming from the era he did, Leclair didn't own one. Brice's old red substitute didn't even fit; it just sat on top of Leclair's now gray thick hair.

From his director's chair, Leclair responds good-naturedly with a story of his own. During one adult hockey league road trip to Evansville, Ind., Leclair sent a pass back to Brice, a defenseman. With the goalie out of the net, Brice took a shot. Leclair stopped the puck just before the goal line, knocking it in himself. "Nice assist," he taunted.

"It was one of the most famous goals I ever scored," Leclair jokes now. Brice gives Leclair a grin. Then, before he walks away, Brice leans over to confide one more thing to those listening to the exchange: "He's one of the sweetest guys you'll ever meet," he says.

True, many seem to adore him. Waitresses in black aprons come by to throw an arm across his shoulder and chat. Even concert regulars show affection. The first folks in the door on a Friday night are quick with a hug.

Leclair checks names off the will-call list, which he secured with silver duct tape to a music stand earlier in the night — a veteran trick he picked up from the early years when his guest list used to fly away with the wind whipping through the front door. He kindly answers questions from a man who wants to buy tickets to a weekend show. Sometimes he will sell CDs for the band. He has a drawer at home filled with 300 CDs of people he has never heard of.

In his more than two decades at the door, he has experienced a lot of good music — bands before they were famous like Lady Antebellum. If pressed, he will come up with his favorite shows, Delbert McClinton's provoking harmonica performance and a two-night, sold-out concert by Sheryl Crow. "She put on a show like she was in Las Vegas," he says.

Through the years, the wear and tear of his long hockey career took its toll on his health. He had heart bypass surgery in 2005 and two full knee replacements in the past five months. Still, he returned to man the door at 3rd & Lindsley, boasting being now two inches taller and ready to resume his golf game and frequent trips to the dance floor.

The most memorable of all his 3rd & Lindsley nights have been the benefit concerts held in his honor — one to help after his wife died, another to help with medical bills.

One night, Kree Harrison, who finished in the runner-up position during Season 12 of "American Idol," sang "Tennessee Waltz" for him.

"She made me cry," he says.

He has thought about it most every night since. From his perch at the door, Leclair says hello and goodbye to all the music-goers.

When they step outside for a minute, he gives each a star stamp on their hand.

"Now you've become a star," he says.

Nelson Leclair, the doorman at 3rd & Lindsley, looks for guests' names on the list before a concert Friday, May 20, 2016, in Nashville. Leclair, a former minor league hockey player and coach, has spent 25 years working at 3rd & Lindsley.

Little do they know, they are talking to one.

Reach Jessica Bliss at 615-259-8253 and on Twitter @jlbliss.