The Kyle Wellwood fans see giving short, to-the-point answers in a postgame television interviews is not the same Kyle Wellwood his teammates and friends know.
And while the public has never seen this funny side of Wellwood, we'll just have to take his teammates' word for it.
"No, he's not like that at all," said Toronto Maple Leafs centre Matt Stajan, who along with Wellwood and other young Leafs often congregate for lunch after practices.
"He has a great sense of humour. He's a laid-back person, but he's funny. He makes us laugh all the time."
Wellwood also made Mike Kelly laugh, when he managed the Windsor Spitfires and Wellwood was the star centre of the Ontario Hockey League club.
"He has a dry sense of humour and very quick wit," said Kelly, now the coach of the Mississauga IceDogs of the OHL.
"This is an extremely bright, intelligent person. When I talked with him it was like talking to a college professor. He has a worldly, philosophical view of things. He sure wasn't your average junior hockey player."
Kelly always believed Wellwood was an above-average hockey player and person. So much so that on Jan. 10, 2002, Kelly traded Jason Spezza for Wellwood straight up in order to bring him back to his hometown.
"It raised a few eyebrows," Kelly said. "Jason was a marquee player. But once we educated the fans that Jason was going to play in the American Hockey League the next year and that Kyle would be around for another season, I think people understood.
"To me, Kyle is as special a player as Jason. We didn't take a step back with [Wellwood]"
Wellwood, 23, has taken a step forward in his pro career this season, even though he was moved from centre to play on the wing alongside captain Mats Sundin. The smallish 5-foot-10 Wellwood is tied for the club lead, with Sundin, with eight points after six games.
"He was much more efficient in his movement in junior because he always knew where the puck was going," Kelly said. "The game slowed down for him.
"With Kyle, you just had to give him the broadest direction and he would figure it out. I have admired the way he has made the adjustment to wing this season."
Wellwood has been dubbed Froda by the Leafs' designated moniker makers, veterans Bryan McCabe and Darcy Tucker, for his similar looks to Lord of the Rings hobbit hero.
The words genius and eccentric have been used to describe Wellwood, but this sort of talk makes the skilled forward uncomfortable. He would prefer the conversation to stick to hockey.
"He's popular with his teammates and he cares about winning," Kelly said.
Wellwood was raised in Oldcastle, a small community south of Windsor. His mother is a firefighter and his father is a civil engineer, who is a building code inspector and bylaw enforcer. His parents don't live together any more, but the huge rink his father built in the backyard helped hone Wellwood's crafty skills, and the game of his 16-year-old brother Eric, a rookie with the Spitfires.
Kyle Wellwood didn't follow the Spitfires closely as a youth nor the NHL team across the river, the Detroit Red Wings. Instead, he simply enjoyed playing the game and quickly became noticed when he led the OHL in scoring with 118 points in 68 games as a 17-year-old with the Belleville Bulls.
"It almost looked like the game was too easy for him," said Stajan, a teammate of Wellwood's in Belleville. "You know, he went all those games without taking a penalty."
Wellwood finished his junior career without taking a penalty in his final 86 games. As a fifth-round selection of the Leafs, his transition to the American Hockey League also went well. He set a team record for the old St. John's Maple Leafs when he scored five goals in a game.
Now, he plays a key role with the Leafs, and has clear designs on what he wants to accomplish this season.
"The most important thing is that we keep winning," he said. "But I want to be consistent in my play and find ways to increase my production."