By James V. Dowd
Chicago Hockey
When asked by a TSN reporter who he hopes to emulate, Kyle Beach – a native of Kewlona, B.C. – didn’t hesitate at all when naming Jarome Ignila. Beach, a 6-foot-3, 203 pound power forward from the WHL’s Everett Silvertips likes the way Iginla handles the puck and how the Calgary Flames’ skipper stands up for himself and his teammates with physical play and a willingness to fight.
That’s just the type of player that the Chicago Blackhawks were looking for in selecting Beach with their top pick in the 2008 draft – the 11th overall selection. It had been rumored that General Manager Dale Tallon and his staff would be on the hunt for a physical center to accompany Jonathan Toews and Dave Bolland in the long run, and Beach could be just that. He’s best known for his mean streak on the ice, namely hard checking and fighting, but is also an accomplished goal scorer, notching 56 goals and 121 total points in 125 appearances for Everett over the past two seasons.
That’s the good news.
But there are also many questions surrounding Beach’s on- and off-ice discipline. According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, Hockey Canada “wanted nothing to do with him”, most likely due to a reported altercation with a teammate while playing on Canada’s summer Under-18 team. He has a reputation for not knowing how to pick his spots for fighting, and missed time from two separate concussions that came from fisticuffs this past year. On top of that, it has been reported that he taunted Boston Bruin Milan Lucic by making motions suggesting he was a “hunchback” – not knowing that Lucic was born with a slight curvature of the spine.
Beach told Canada.com that he has learned from the incident.
“When it happened, I was just acting in the moment of the game,” Beach said. “It is a birth defect but at the time I can tell you honestly I didn’t know that. I just saw it like I was making fun of someone for acne or a crooked nose. At the time, I didn’t see it as a big deal.
“Looking back at it, I’ve learned from it and you have to be careful about what you say on the ice. I’ve met him off the ice now and he’s probably one of the nicest guys.”
There are other rumors circulating that suggest that Beach is a risky pick because of some questionable off-ice incidents that involved the police, but did not result in charges.
Here’s to hoping the Hawks hear a lot more of the hard hitting and goal scoring touch than the indiscretion. The team certainly learned a lesson on picking spots for fighting when blue liner James Wisniewski went down with an injury after a post-game fight with Nashville’s Jordin Tootoo in December. Hopefully that experience will help Chicago’s leadership breed Beach as an effective, Claude Lemieux-type player – the guy you hate to play against but love to have on your team.
Below is a video highlighting Beach before the Draft.
