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Kris Beech a Canuck
by Alanah McGinley on 01/10/08 at 12:58 PM ET
Comments (9)
Yesterday, the Columbus Blue Jackets put Kris Beech on waivers. This morning, the Vancouver Canucks have claimed the center.
Beech has 9 points in 16 games this season.
Update 10:08am PT: More on Kris below.
To answer some questions about Kris, I dug up this article by Aaron Portzline at The Columbus Dispatch, originally published December 14th, 2007:
Kris Beech spent stretches of the 2001-02 season as a 20-year-old playing alongside scary-skilled forwards Alexei Kovalev and Mario Lemieux with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“The greatest player ever,” Beech said of Lemieux.
Last season, Beech had a handful of looks on a line with young star Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.
So his current slot with the Blue Jackets—on the No. 1 line between wingers Rick Nash and Nikolai Zherdev—is not a new experience.
How Beech is approaching it could be what’s different.
“In the past, I put so much pressure on myself to step right in and produce lots of points,” Beech said. “Now, I’m not worried about the numbers. That’s the attitude I’ve got now. It’s a lot easier game to play, just worrying about what you can control. And your work ethic is the only thing you can control.”
Funny thing is, Beech is putting up points like never before.
In seven games with the Blue Jackets, he is on a point-per-game pace with three goals and four assists.
And they haven’t been cheap points.
At the time that article was published, the Blue Jackets were clearly pretty high on Beech.
Here’s a bit of his career background:
The Capitals drafted Beech No. 7 overall in 1999, then traded him to Pittsburgh in the summer of 2001 in the Jaromir Jagr deal.
“Those things both created really high expectations,” Beech said this past training camp. “I think for a long time I was preoccupied with living up to all of that.”
After spending 79 games with the Penguins in 2001-02—flanked at times by Kovalev and Lemieux, he had 10 goals and 15 assists—Beech spent most of the next six seasons in the minors, playing just 26 games in the NHL.
“Playing that many games with Pittsburgh (in 2001-02), and then not getting much of a look after that … that was something I had to recover from mentally,” Beech said.
Last season, he played in 64 games with Washington, lining up with Ovechkin sporadically, and had eight goals and 18 assists.
When the Capitals didn’t extend a qualifying offer, Beech became an unrestricted free agent. The Blue Jackets, seeking depth, signed him to a one-year, $585,000 contract Aug. 7.
“I was excited when (Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson) signed him,” Nash said. “I thought it was a great move. You can see why he was a top pick.”
Filed in: vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: kris+beech, waivers,
Comments
Some help for the Moose while Jaffrey and Raymond are up with the big club? This seems odd with Isbister benched every other night and Brown in the lineup and Cowan coming back soon. I don’t get it unless he is headed to the minors.
Posted by Trini from Van City on 01/10/08 at 01:56 PM ET
Any time you can get a first rounder with a few years of experience, you obviously have some potential to work with. With the right line, and less expectations coming to Vancouver than his other roles, he has a lot of up sides. Great pick up Nonis.
Posted by Petey Pete Pete on 01/10/08 at 03:11 PM ET
He’s had experience with skilled players, he’s big, he’s apparently a gifted scorer; I think he is meant for the Sedin Line. Pyatt hasn’t exactly worked out, and Raymond is too fast. That leaves a lot of room for Vigneault to put together 3 or maybe 4 good lines. The kid line, and Pyatt, Morrison, Naslund…
Posted by sean orr from gastown on 01/10/08 at 11:46 PM ET
I think odds are that Beech is expected to challenge for a spot with the Canucks, but that the team will still be happy if he can contribute in Manitoba. Vancouver could probably use him, but the Moose have been badly depleted by injuries and call-ups this year, too.
A depth-move, but a reasonably priced one, right? And if it works out as anything more than that, all the better.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/11/08 at 01:27 AM ET
Kris Beech?
Let’s start planning the parade route right now!!
Posted by Valdemar from Wha? on 01/11/08 at 06:53 PM ET
Son of a Beech, scored 2nite.
Posted by Gloomy from Vancouver on 01/16/08 at 12:58 AM ET
Trade nazzy before the deadline.
Posted by Ryan from BC on 01/16/08 at 02:05 PM ET
Anyone noticing Beech’s play so far? I’ve missed a couple of games and listened to one online—didn’t hear much about him. Zero impact?
Posted by Jeremy from Summerland on 01/17/08 at 02:09 PM ET
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About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003 (with a notable gap in time through 2010, kicking it with new baby Lucy while living knee-deep in chaos while reading “parenting for complete idiots” during every spare minute) sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen.
In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah was one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast. She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
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BC boy gets to play for the Canucks, hopefully it works out good for him.
Posted by PuckHound61 from Speckville USA on 01/10/08 at 01:31 PM ET