Kitty Clark Fritz/Special to the Tribune

Kevin Harvey jokes with teammates on the Scorpions' bench. Harvey, 22, is adored by teammates and fans and despised by the competition for his role as the team's enforcer, often fighting more than skating. "I've always had a tough instinct just because of the way I play the game," Harvey said. "I get under people's skin, so they're always wanting to come after me."

Kitty Clark Fritz/Special to the Tribune

The Scorpions' Kevin Harvey (left) cocks his fist against Rio Grande's Marlon Joseph. Harvey had two fighting majors Wednesday night in New Mexico's 4-1 win. He cracked his head on the ice in a third-period scrap with Rio Grande's Dave Butland. "He's our basic fighter," said season ticket holder Ralph Bishop of Estancia. "I like his grit, his toughness. He's not afraid to fight whoever comes up to him."

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The New Mexico Scorpions were smack in the middle of a rocky start to the 2006-07 campaign. Boasting an unsightly 3-7 record, they were still searching for their first road win of the season when they pulled into Corpus Christi on the last leg of a three-game Texas road trip. Head coach Ray Edwards was doing everything in his power to motivate his squad before they took the ice.

After delivering his best pump-up speech, Edwards opened the floor to his players, looking for, as trainer Brent Woodside put it, "something inspirational, something immortal."

Kevin Harvey stood up.

"Guys, can we please, just for once, sit down on the bench? This is pro hockey; this isn't juniors anymore."

Silence.

"We were all just staring at each other in disbelief," Woodside said. "There was no relevance in what he was saying at all. We all just started laughing and then coach turned to the team and said `There's one in every group, boys!' "

Woodside chuckled. "That's Harv for you."

Indeed, that is the guy players have fans have come to know as "Harv."

"Hey, I just like to stay loose," Harvey said. "I usually don't start thinking about my job until about five minutes before the game starts."

The 22-year-old rookie has emerged as a major role-player for the Scorps, and his efforts have earned him recognition both on and off the ice.

"Kevin's not afraid to stand up for anyone on the ice, but he also keeps our guys loose," Edwards said. "He's a character guy and every team sure needs a guy like that."

Harvey is known by fans and players alike for his fists. In 44 games this season, Harvey leads the Scorps with 20 fighting majors, a figure that puts him near the top of the CHL rookie class in penalty minutes.

"I've always had a tough instinct just because of the way I play the game," Harvey said. "I get under people's skin, so they're always wanting to come after me."

Harvey attributes his toughness in large part to his rough-and-tumble family, which includes older brother Todd, a former first-round draft pick and a 13-year NHL veteran.

"My brother's got a lot of toughness in his game, but we try to keep hockey out of our relationship," the younger Harvey said. "I think if it came down to it though, he'd probably punch my head clean off my body."

While his brother may have the upper hand at home, few players in the CHL have been able to outduel Harvey on the ice this season. Not even when the youngster bites off more than most think he can chew.

On Feb. 6 in Loveland, Colo., Harvey squared off against the Colorado Eagles' Ryan Tobler. Tobler, who at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds has been voted the league's top power forward the past two years, had already handed Harvey a lopsided beat-down earlier in the season. Harvey made sure round two would be different.

"The first time we fought he pretty much embarrassed me," Harvey said. "It was nice to give it back to him and embarrass him in front of his home crowd."

While he is fearless on the ice, Harvey can hardly be described the same way off it. Take, for example, one of his post-game rituals.

"He loves the song `Maneater' by Nelly Furtado," Woodside said. "He dances to it in the locker room after games. I've seen that way too many times."

Or consider how he was adopted by his roommate on the road, veteran defenseman Aaron MacInnis, 25, as "Uncle Aaron."

"Harv's a good kid, but I keep him in line," said MacInnis, who recently taught Harvey how to iron. "He doesn't get the remote though. That's my remote."

MacInnis learned that lesson quickly.

"There's a rule on the bus when we're on a road trip," Woodside said. "Kevin Harvey does not get the remote. He picks the absolute stupidest stuff to watch."

With Harvey around the locker room, the Scorpions can rest assured that there will always be someone there to break the tension as they enter the final month of the season.

"I'm just here to have fun," Harvey said. "I could be working a 9-to-5 right now, but I'd rather be here with the boys."

A 9-to-5 might have been kinder to him than Wednesday night's 4-1 win over Rio Grande Valley. Harvey had to be helped to the dressing room after cracking his head on the ice during a late third-period fight.

The Killer Bees' Dale Butland wrestled Harvey to the ice then, as the refs came in to separate the two of them, caught a stunned Harvey with a cheap shot to the head. Butland was assessed a fighting major and a game misconduct.

Despite being treated for a nasty laceration to the back of his head, Harvey is slated to be in the lineup Saturday when the Scorpions travel to Odessa for a division matchup against the Jackalopes.

"Uncle Aaron" sums it up: "The kid's got tremendous heart."