There, the retired NHL forward looked at a cherished picture that now has a greater meaning: a photo of him and forward Bobby Clarke in 1970 with then-Prince Charles, who has become King Charles III following his mother's death at 96.
Leach and a skinny, bespectacled Clarke are seen chatting with the future king at an event in Baker's Narrow, Manitoba, near Flin Flon, during a July 1970 royal tour to commemorate the province's 100th anniversary into the Canadian Confederation.
"With Charles becoming king and everything, it's pretty special," Leach said from his cottage near Flin Flon. "We're all young at the time, next thing you know, he's king of the country. At that time, you know, we're just young kids and we didn't know exactly how important this was going to be in our lifetime."
Clarke, who was born in Flin Flon, and Leach had been linemates with the Flin Flon Bombers junior team and are the leading scorers in team history. Clarke had 495 points (177 goals, 318 assists) in 166 games, and Leach had 401 points (255 goals, 146 assists) in 183 games.
The Philadelphia Flyers had selected Clarke in the second round (No. 17) of the 1969 NHL Draft, and he was home after his first NHL season. Leach had been chosen by the Boston Bruins with the No. 3 pick of the 1970 NHL Draft one month earlier.
"At that stage, we were the two best players with the Bombers team that were there," Clarke said. "We were just invited to go there and represent the Bombers."
Leach said he was nervous during the meeting and initially barely made eye contact with the prince. But that quickly faded when the monarch began making small talk about hockey.
"To me, it was like meeting a regular guy," Leach said. "He seemed down to earth to us. I know he had guards around him and stuff like that, but he wanted to be like us, a typical 20-year-old, 21-year-old. Too bad 'Clarkie' and I couldn't take him out for the night. We could have took him on the town in Flin Flon."
Clarke said their time with the prince was about 10 or 15 minutes.
"He was pretty young then too," Clarke said. "Other than just basically saying hello and seeing what he had to say, we didn't have any long conversations or anything. ... At the time, I don't think he was any big deal in Canada. Obviously the Queen would have been but she didn't come to Flin Flon. Seemed like a nice guy, friendly when we talked to him."
After their meeting with the royal family, Clarke and Leach returned to preparing for the NHL season. They were reunited in Philadelphia in 1974 to form the LCB line, along with Hockey Hall of Fame member Bill Barber, creating one of the most prolific lines in NHL history. They helped the Flyers win the Stanley Cup in 1975 and reach the Final in 1976 and 1980.
Clarke won the Hart Trophy as NHL most valuable player three times (1972-73, 1974-54, 1975-76). Leach led the NHL with 61 goals in 1975-76 and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Stanley Cup Playoffs MVP in 1976 despite Philadelphia losing to the Montreal Canadiens in four games in the Final. His 19 goals in 16 playoff games are tied with Jari Kurri (1985) for the single-season NHL record.
After the queen's death and Charles becoming king, Clarke said he and Leach and their brief moment with the British monarchy more than 50 years ago came back into his memory.
"If you've lived in a small town up in the north, to get a dignitary of that size to come up there, that's pretty cool," he said.
Photo: Flin Flon Heritage Project
NHL.com deputy managing editor Adam Kimelman contributed to this report