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View Full Version : One strong character: Beeman leads Ams tonight vs. Everett



amshockey_lover4ever
03-28-2006, 08:56 PM
This story was published Tuesday, March 28th, 2006

By Annie Fowler, Herald staff writer

It's Monday morning at Stinger Collision Center in Fontana, Calif., and all the employees know they will be herded into the office to watch highlights of the Tri-City Americans games from the weekend via the Internet.

The Western Hockey League's Internet broadcasts, which debuted this season, have enabled Mike and Joy Beeman to watch their son, Jason, play every game this season without the expense of a plane ticket, and they want to share every goal and big hit with everyone.

"You watch every game, every practice, you spend hours at the rink for years and then they leave," Joy Beeman said. "You miss them so much, but now we have the computer and we put it up on the big screen. It has been a good year for him."

Indeed it has.

The 20-year-old right wing from Diamond Bar, Calif., had a career-best 28 goals and 58 points during the regular season, but to think what he could have done had he not been suspended four times for a total of 10 games this season by the Western Hockey League.

"A couple of the suspensions were a little weak," said Beeman, who was second in the league with 17 power-play goals. "But I have to deal with it and move on. I can't let it affect the way I play out there."

Actually, the suspensions paid dividends. When Beeman returned from the suspensions, he was productive on the ice. The most recent suspension was handed out by league disciplinarian Rick Doerksen for a hit on Portland's Jon Bubnick on March 10.

Beeman missed two games, then returned to score two goals and hand out two assists in two home games against Prince George the last weekend of the regular season.

"He's been great," said Tri-Cities coach Don Nachbaur. "Not only is he a good kid, but he's been a real leader and he can score. He's displayed that this year. I can't say enough about our overagers. They have been very good for us this year."

Beeman scored the first goal of the Americans' 2-1 win Saturday, helping Tri-Cities even its first-round series with Everett at one game apiece. Game 3 will be at 7:05 p.m. today at Toyota Center.

Joy Beeman and her daughter, Jamie, will be at tonight's game and plan to stay through the weekend. Mike, who shares a July 2 birthday and an off-the-wall personality with his son, plans to come north for the second round of the playoffs.

Jamie, 10, is an accomplished singer and will perform the National Anthem tonight.

"They are so close," Joy said of Jason and Jamie. "He has adored her since the day she was born. She just stole his heart."

Beeman said he credits his productivity this season to linemates Ian McDonald and Juraj Gracik. During the regular season, the trio combined for 87 goals.

"It helps playing with Ian for five years," Beeman said. "You know where each otheris all the time on the ice. Juraj was a good addition to the line, and playing first unit power play doesn't hurt."

It's a good thing Beeman has his hockey skills to back him up. Being one of only two American-born players (the other is rookie Kyle Peters) on the Tri-Cities roster, he gets almost as much flak for that as he does from Doerksen.

"They try to bug me," said Beeman, who spent a couple years as the team's only American-born player. "I block them out and tell them we have as many people in California as they do in all of Canada -- and our girls are hotter. Canada has beautiful scenery and nice people, just not a lot of them."

His outgoing personality helps him brush aside the snide remarks by his teammates, but it also draws their ire.

"I'm down for anything," Beeman said. "Sometimes they get sick of me. I'm too outgoing. I wake up too happy some days."

And that plays in his favor when he visits area schools and reads to the students.

"I can act myself around them," said Beeman, who won the team's Community Leader and Unsung Hero awards this season. "I love kids. They are fun and they are happy, most of the time."

He always lets the children pick the books he reads. His favorite? Captain Underpants. "It was hilarious," he said. "I tried to read it fast, but I never got to finish it."

Beeman grew up playing the typical American sports. He and his older brother Justin, 22, played baseball and soccer.

Jason discovered hockey when he was 8, but Justin went on to play football and wrestle in high school (he was a Sierra League champion at 189 pounds in 2001) and now is a fireman for the Los Angeles County Forest Service.

Beeman's younger brother Jeremy, 17, is a tight end/linebacker at Diamond Bar High School.

And while Justin and Jeremy took to football, Jason's love for hockey grew.

"I love hitting people. I like the physical play," said Jason, who had 115 penalty minutes this season. "And it was cold in the rink -- it was a chance to get out of the heat."

Beeman left home at 14 to play at Delphi Academy in Langley, British Columbia, and was playing for the Spokane Braves when he was drafted by the Americans in the second round of the WHL bantam draft in 2001. But he remains undrafted and unsigned by an NHL team.

"I'd like to play on TV one day, and I'd like to repay my parents for everything," Beeman said. "They have sacrificed personal things they have wanted for me to play hockey."

His mother said no such payment is expected.

"When we see how much he's accomplished and what a wonderful young man he's become, there is no payback in the world than for him to fulfill his dream," Joy said. "It takes a very strong person to not give up when the phone doesn't ring off the hook."

A strong showing in the playoffs could have scouts punching in a 509 area code.

"I definitely want the phone to ring," Beeman said. "I don't think the U.S. teams get looked at as much as the Canadian teams. You have to work hard on the road. Coach says the road builds character."

And no one has more character than Jason Beeman