No matter where you come from, it’s a long road to the NHL, and Alex Kannok Leipert’s is no different.

But his journey, geographically, is longer than almost anyone else.

Kannok Leipert, a defenseman who recently signed with the Grand Rapids Griffins comes to Western Michigan from Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, where he was born in 2000. 

Or, as the crow flies, about 8,500 miles.

His father, Tim, was a Canadian living in Thailand teaching English when he got married, and Alex lived there until moving to Regina, Saskatchewan, when he was five. But the hockey bug had bitten him before that.

”We visited Canada when I was two and a half,” Kannock Leipert said. “We went to a Regina Pats game and I just fell in love with it; I said I wanted to play hockey and that was it,” he told abbotsford.canucks.com. 

Kannok Leipert then took to hockey the usual way, playing with his schoolmates in Regina before moving on to the Vancouver Giants.

He was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the sixth round of the 2018 NHL Draft and played three seasons for the Abbotsford Canucks of the AHL before spending last season with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. 

A Personal and NHL first

Kannok Leipert, if he reaches the NHL, would be its first player born in Thailand, but not the first with ties to that nation. New Jersey Devils defenseman Jonas Seigenthaler, born to a Thai mother and Swiss father in Switzerland, holds that distinction.

Kannok Leipert went back to Thailand during the summer while growing up, and one of the things he picked up was Muay Thai, a form of martial arts popular in Thailand. He still uses it for conditioning in the offseason, and the fighting skills have come in handy in more ways than one.

“That was where the confidence (In learning) how to fight and protect myself came from,” he said. “I think that’s part of my identity, just trying to project my teammates and stand up for guys.”

Kannok Leipert doesn’t look for fights; listed at 6-0 and 200 pounds, he’s not the second coming of Bob Probert. But he holds his own, including a bout with 6-8 Adam Klepka a couple of seasons back that saw them battle until Kannok Leipert brought him down. 

”It was a good back-and-forth between the two of us,” Kannok Leipert said. ”Something that I think just kind of blew out of proportion a little bit, but it’s so funny that people still ask about it.”

But Grand Rapids coach Dan Watson has another perspective on Kannok Leipert’s fighting ability.

“What it’s gonna do, it’s gonna create momentum for our team when it’s needed,” he said of Kannok Leipert’s physicality. “I’m sure he’s smart enough to know when it’s time, when it’s not time, and, I think we’re excited to have that type of element on our back end.”

Sticking to Defense

Kannok Leipert has played both forward and defense in his career, but will stick to the blue line in Grand Rapids. 

“His skating is completely fine,” Watson said. “He’s a defender. He’s gonna be hard in the corners, willing to end plays so we can get pucks out. And he’s gonna be on our penalty kill, so he’s gonna be a valuable asset to us who can eat minutes.”

Kannok Leipert joins a former Abbotsford teammate, Sheldon Dries, who helped sell Grand Rapids to Kannok Leipert and vice versa. 

Kannok Leipert is proud of his Thai heritage, and that nation does have a national team, one that made headlines one year ago by beating Kuwait 57-0. But you won’t see him playing any games under that nation’s flag. 

“I was trying to make it work, but there were import rules,” he said. “I had (to live)  there for a couple of years just to be on the team.” 

So he’ll pursue his NHL dream as his parents look on from Canada. 

“My mon loves hockey,” he said. “She’s always been our biggest supporter, shouting and hollering in the stands. But she doesn’t like the fighting.”

Especially when her son is in the middle?

“Exactly,” he said, laughing.