He was a familiar voice to Minnesota hockey fans, spending 16 years as the voice of Golden Gopher hockey, the TV voice for the North Stars and the state high school tournaments.
Sunday, the man behind the voice Doug McLeod passed away. HSGN checked various sources and found that he was 70 and suffered from heart issues.
McLeod came to the Twin Cities in 1978 when he was hired by WWTC to be the first radio play-by-play announcer for the University of Minnesota men's hockey team. He stayed in that role on other stations in the market for 16 years. He would also be the TV voice of the North Stars for six seasons, until the team left for Dallas in 1992.
After the North Stars departed, he also did some play-by-play stints for the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Arizona Coyotes.
McLeod would also be a familiar voice to state hockey tournament fans, serving as a back up voice on WCCO-TV. When the rights switched over to KMSP in the early 1990s, the station utilized him on their coverage of the state hockey and basketball tournaments as well as the Prep Bowl. In 2019, KSTC brought him back to handle their state hockey coverage in celebration of the event's 75th anniversary. But in the first period of the White Bear Lake-Blaine game, he made a reference to lynching that got numerous complaints and he was pulled off the air following the conclusion of the period.
Baseball was also on McLeod's resume. He was a radio voice for Gopher Baseball and an early voice of the St. Paul Saints.
McLeod also played a broadcaster in the movie Mystery, Alaska. The movie that starred Russell Crowe, Mary McCormack and Hank Azaria featured cameos by Phil Esposito, Little Richard and Barry Melrose.
One non play-by-play stint McLeod had in the 1990s was a Sunday night show on KBEM-FM in Minneapolis where he played music from the Big Band Era.
McLeod will be best remembered as a familiar voice to Minnesota hockey fans. May he rest in peace.
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