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LW Kyle Beach (2008, 11th, CHI; UFA) II

ponder

ponder

Registered User
Jul 11, 2007
17,035
6,529
Vancouver
topchowda said:
can I get clarifaction of Beach from a hawks fan. A while back I was talking to a friend who played in the whl with him and said he was kind of crazy. He then said at the hawks rookie camp (last year or the year before) he went crazy and fought/nailed a top hawks prospect and injured the guys shoulder for a while.

Any truth to this or am I way off?
pvr said:
Injured Mathis Olimb during a fight a couple of years ago at camp. Olimb was a fringe prospect at best. Certainly he was not in Beach's "weight class" though, and questions surrounded why the fight took place at all.
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Indeed. As far as I can remember, someone (not Olimb) gave Beach a slash during play. Beach thought it was Olimb, grabbed him and beat the **** out of him even though Olimb didn't want to fight, and continued beating on him way after refs stepped in with Olimb down. Keep in mind that Olimb is/was a 5'9"-5'10" skill player, not any kind of fighter, while Beach is generally listed at 6'3"-6'4". Very shortly after this fight, Beach jumped Olimb again, once again beat on him when he was on the ice, and this time gave him a shoulder injury that knocked him out of the camp. Fights in prospect camps are fine, but normally they're between two guys of similar size who like to fight, and even then the winner will let up once the fight is over. Beach has been called a headcase throughout his entire WHL and AHL career, and not without reason.

I can't find video of the 1st fight, but here's the aftermath, around the 14 second mark you can see how Beach continues to cheapshot Olimb when the fight is clearly over (Olimb down and turtling, refs trying to pull Beach away):


And here's the 2nd fight. Same deal, Beach jumps Olimb, beats the **** out of him, Olimb never even drops his gloves/stick, and Beach gives Olimb an extra shot when the refs are pulling him away:




Btw, I don't think Beach projects as a heavyweight fighter at the NHL level, even a middleweight fighter is questionable. He's a willing fighter, and can beat up on finesse players, but he generally doesn't do well against legit fighters. In the AHL he has been tuned up by 5'9"-5'11" players like Cundari and Della Rovere:

Della Rovere vs Beach:


Cundari vs Beach:


He'll have to be more of an agitator than an actual fighter in the NHL.
 
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puckfan13

Registered User
Jan 18, 2010
2,758
2
ponder said:
Indeed. As far as I can remember, someone (not Olimb) gave Beach a slash during play. Beach thought it was Olimb, grabbed him and beat the **** out of him even though Olimb didn't want to fight, and continued beating on him way after refs stepped in with Olimb down. Keep in mind that Olimb is/was a 5'9"-5'10" skill player, not any kind of fighter, while Beach is generally listed at 6'3"-6'4". Very shortly after this fight, Beach jumped Olimb again, once again beat on him when he was on the ice, and this time gave him a shoulder injury that knocked him out of the camp. Fights in prospect camps are fine, but normally they're between two guys of similar size who like to fight, and even then the winner will let up once the fight is over. Beach has been called a headcase throughout his entire WHL and AHL career, and not without reason.

I can't find video of the 1st fight, but here's the aftermath, around the 14 second mark you can see how Beach continues to cheapshot Olimb when the fight is clearly over (Olimb down and turtling, refs trying to pull Beach away):


And here's the 2nd fight. Same deal, Beach jumps Olimb, beats the **** out of him, Olimb never even drops his gloves/stick, and Beach gives Olimb an extra shot when the refs are pulling him away:



Btw, I don't think Beach projects as a heavyweight fighter at the NHL level. He's a willing fighter, and can beat up on little guys, but he generally didn't do well against guys his own size in the WHL, even got knocked out and concussed in a few of his WHL fights IIRC.
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Goddammit... defend yourself if someone's going at you and punching you. What good does it do Olimb to just sit there and take it. You're in an NHL camp and the refs aren't doing anything, how does it benefit you to keep your stick in your hand and gloves on and not stand up for yourself.

Beach was being a puke there and probably lost his mind and it's in no way excusable, but Jesus, stand up for yourself a little and maybe the refs might have came in. You have to protect and fend for yourself out there, he's basically inviting a guy who just lost his marbles to hurt him.

And just to clarify again, that was still a huge punk move by Beach.
 

puckfan13

Registered User
Jan 18, 2010
2,758
2
CanadianHockey said:
Could be a bottom-6er, anyone thinking he's got top-6 potential at this point is banking against the odds.
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While I agree with your statement here in regards to Beach, but aren't almost all prospects banking against the odds of their initial projections anyways?
 

Gary83*

Guest
Pascha said:
Another kid who had a tough time in his first year in professional hockey... :shakehead
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If by tough time you mean not willing to put in the work his coach wanted and not wanting to cut out the chocolate milk and big mac diet then yes, he had a tough time.
 
tony d

tony d

New poll series coming from me in June
Jun 23, 2007
76,697
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Behind A Tree
Not yet but unless he starts to show some progress over the next year or 2 I think he can start to be called a bust.
 
Sevanston

Sevanston

Registered User
Dec 27, 2009
13,865
0
NYC
This will be a very telling year for him.

He did well when he played last year, but got a shoulder injury that caused him to sit out most of the season.

During that time, he coached a local peewee team (to a 10-1-1 record) and did some IceHogs broadcasting. It sounds like he did a lot of maturing off the ice, and really his maturity has always been his biggest question mark.

If he's got his head screwed on right, he's definitely got all of the tools to succeed at the pro level. Now it's just a matter of him proving it over an entire season.

I've got a theory that Bowman is waiting to see how Beach does this season before he decides whether or not to offer him another contract or trade him as part of a package at the deadline (assuming there will be an NHL season).
 
rynryn

rynryn

Reluctant Optimist. Permanently Déclassé.
May 29, 2008
33,523
3,547
Minny
all i remember from beach is him fighting Marc-Andre Bergeron in a preseason game. mauled him. but then he is almost a foot taller, so...yeah. seems a bit crazy.

He could still end up useful...Latendresse didn't really look like anything but a bust until his one healthy year in Minnesota where he looked like a 30 goal guy. Maybe he is one of those "needs a change of scenery" guys that works only in certain systems.

edit: that being said, Hawks aren't going to get anything but another disappointing prospect or late round pick for him in a trade.
 
HighLifeMan

HighLifeMan

#SnowyStrong
Feb 26, 2009
7,469
2,796
Gary83 said:
If by tough time you mean not willing to put in the work his coach wanted and not wanting to cut out the chocolate milk and big mac diet then yes, he had a tough time.
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Except such was not the case..

Those were problems that lingered over from his junior days. Once these issues were addressed by the coaching staff he put in the necessary work to cut those lifestyle choices out of his day to day routine.
 

Mancini0518

Registered User
Jan 26, 2008
1,997
72
MA
Anyone else find it funny that the guy Beach called Quasi Moto just got a 6 million AAV deal and Beach can't even crack the NHL?
 

RomersWorld*

Guest
Quasimoto...haha awesome.

I'm excited to see how he does this year. He looked great before his injury took away almost his entire season. Big year for him.
 

MagicSlap*

Guest
On the Olimb thing, that was a long time ago and Beach has really matured over the last two years. He realized that the NHL wouldn't just be given to him and he'd have to work for it. This is his last year with a contract so he knows he needs to play well to get a shot. I'm excited to see him this season, he's got all the tools, started well last year, and seems to have his head on straight.
 

Gary83*

Guest
HighLifeMan said:
Except such was not the case..

Those were problems that lingered over from his junior days. Once these issues were addressed by the coaching staff he put in the necessary work to cut those lifestyle choices out of his day to day routine.
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You realize that it took his third year and Ward basically sitting him for the entire year for that to happen? Probably not. Hesketh has been doing his conditioning since junior and hasn't been able to get him to diet properly. It took Ward benching him permanently for it to happen. Don't act like Howse made the choice himself.
 

Analyzer*

Guest
Will he be what people thought ? No. Still a solid prospect and I'd love for the habs to acquire him.

Eh, Bergy ? You want to get bigger... You know him... Get on it.
 
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