Beach played injured in 2nd half

[Tipped Off]

From Nick Patterson's blog

I just got off the phone with Kyle Beach, who was generous enough to talk to me during a lunch break as he was driving out to his grandfather's cabin north of Kelowna, B.C.

Ostensibly the conversation was about Beach's experience at the NHL draft combine, which wrapped up yesterday in Toronto. A story about it will appear in the paper sometime next week.

However, the most interesting bit of news was that Beach played almost all of last season with a sports hernia. Beach said it didn't cause him any pain during the first half, but he tweaked it early in the second half and was in considerable pain the rest of the way. That may account for some of the dropoff in his production as the season progressed. He had surgery to repair the hernia after the season ended, and he expects to be fully recovered in time for training camp.

One consequence of the surgery was that Beach was only a limited participant at the combine. Beach only underwent a basic physical and didn't participate in any of the physical testing.

However, Beach more than made up for his lack of action in physical testing during the interview portion of the combine. Beach had meetings with 27 of the 30 NHL teams, all of which were curious about Beach's reputation for being a loose cannon both on and off the ice. That reputation has caused Beach's draft status to fluxuate up and down the first round of the draft. Beach said he was happy the set the record straight about incidents which have been "blown out of proportion."

With the combine over, next up for Beach is the draft, which takes place June 20-21 in Ottawa.


http://www.heraldnet.com/section/BLOG12

[Malc]

By Doyle Potenteau

Kyle Beach counts himself lucky. Lucky not to have lathered up a sweat on Friday. Or thrown up. The NHL‘s combine camp for 2008 draft-eligible players wrapped up in Toronto, and Beach escaped the event‘s torture test. Due to recent hernia surgery, Beach couldn't take part in the camp‘s final component, a workout so rigorous that it‘s known to induce physical illness.

“I know a lot of guys were stressing about (testing),” said Beach, whose only requirements on Friday were height and weight measurements.

In three weeks, the Kelowna resident will be measured by where he gets selected in Ottawa, which could range from inside the top five to out of the top 10. NHL Central Scouting has the six-foot-three forward listed at ninth overall, while NHL.com recently said Beach – a power winger who can skate, shoot, fight and trash-talk with the best of them – could be the draft‘s best player. Hard to argue that, considering his size, his 27 goals and 60 points in 60 games this season, while also rolling up 222 penalty minutes. Red Line Report has him listed at fourth. But Beach‘s attitude has labelled him a troublemaker. And this week, NHL teams weren't shy about drilling the 18-year-old Everett forward on that subject.

“I had a lot of interviews,” said Beach, adding he had 13 on Tuesday, six on Wednesday and nine on Thursday. “A lot of teams asked me about different issues on and off the ice. At times, it was a little confusing, because I was thinking ’Didn't you just ask me that question?‘ Then I‘d clue in and remember I‘d been asked that question during a previous interview.

“But, yeah, it was tough at times. I‘m just glad I was given a chance to be myself and clarify things which had been blown out of proportion. Some questions were asked over and over, and there were only a couple of surprise questions, but I‘m glad I got the chance to clear things up. Some teams realized I wasn't the bad guy I've been made out to be.”

In Everett‘s last appearance in Kelowna last season, a 5-1 loss on Jan. 30, Beach said in a pre-game interview that he planned to clean up his trash-talking, penalty-filled ways, and that he was going to focus on becoming a better offensive threat. Over the next seven weeks, he kept his word (at times), going penalty-free twice and drawing just one minor four other times. Yet, he also hit double-digit PIMs twice.

“It‘s definitely tough trying to put this behind me and become a better, more mature player,” said Beach, who rankled feathers last August with Canada‘s under-18 team when taped “Team Ontario” across his jersey. The B.C. product felt that head coach Dave Barr, head coach and GM of the OHL's Guelph Storm, was giving Ontario players preferential ice time. That might help explain why Beach wasn't issued an invite for last year‘s world junior team tryout camp.

“Hey, old habits are tough,” continued Beach. “But I think I‘m making big strides because I've had a lot of help from my coaches and GM (in Everett) and my agent. They've spent numerous hours thinking about how to help me control (my emotions), and they've spent hours just talking about it. Nothing negative, just positive reinforcement. I‘d had a lot of support, and never once has it been negative. With the help I‘m getting, I definitely feel I‘m taking good steps to breaking those habits.”

As for getting drafted, Beach isn't concerned about where he‘s selected. Who selects him, though, is another matter.

“It‘s nice to hear that I‘ll be picked (in the top 10)... and I‘m pretty excited, but I can‘t let my head get blown up about it,” he said. “There‘s still a lot of time before the draft, and I‘m realizing the draft means for my career, what impact it can have and how far I can go.

“I‘m not sure how things are going to play out on draft day, what team will pick me or what number, but I do that when I do get selected, it‘s going to be a great honour, and I can‘t wait to put on that jersey and ball cap.”