Ex-Silvertip Beach proof NHL draft guarantees nothing

By David Haugh

Chicago Tribune

If Kyle Beach were to address the first-round picks in Chicago for this weekend’s NHL draft, he would speak from his broken heart.

The player the Chicago Blackhawks selected 11th overall in 2008 would tell the prospects what they need to hear, not necessarily what they want to hear. The hyped prospect who never played in an NHL game would remind them that getting drafted high guarantees nothing. The disappointment in Beach’s voice would be undeniable, the impact of his experience invaluable.

“A lot of what I’d say would be, ‘Congratulations, fellas, but to this point you’ve achieved nothing,’” said Beach, who just finished his second season with the Graz 99ers of the Austrian Hockey League. “’Your goal wasn’t just to get drafted but to make the NHL. If you’re satisfied with getting drafted in the first round, you’re not going to get there.’”

That Beach, a former star forward with the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey Legaue, never got to the NHL nags the 27-year-old who acknowledges feeling regret over the way his career unraveled. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder played parts of six seasons for the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League before the Blackhawks traded him in December 2013 to the New York Rangers for forward Brandon Mashinter. After a 39-game stint for Hartford in the AHL, Beach bolted for Austria, where he has played the past three seasons.

“Whenever you get as close as I did and don’t make it, there are going to be a lot of questions that never can be answered,” Beach said. “I was a player growing up who never had to work that hard because I was always a top player. It was a rude awakening. Could I have been more prepared? Absolutely. What if I would have spent an extra 10 or 20 minutes here or there on stick-handling over the course of five years? There are so many what-ifs.”

What if the Blackhawks hadn’t selected Beach at a spot in the draft that includes such high expectations? Former Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon, coming off back-to-back drafts in which he took Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, reached for a rugged player with a history of being an agitator (Beach, who played in Everett from 2005-2009, still ranks as the Silvertips’ career leading in penalty minutes with 528). Tallon envisioned Beach giving the Blackhawks an element the organization lacked.

“Usually you go for the best player that high, but we went for a need,” said Tallon, now general manager of the NHL’s Florida Panthers. “We didn’t have that sandpaper in the organization. He had a reputation for being physical. He found out at the next level, guys weren’t afraid of him anymore. There were a lot of guys like him who could mix it up.”

One of those guys was Andrew Shaw, Beach’s irascible roommate at Rockford. Beach still wonders whether the Blackhawks would have called him up instead of Shaw in January 2012 to replace an injured Daniel Carcillo if it had not been for Beach’s dislocated shoulder.

“Shawzie’ took advantage and look what a career he has had from there. … right place, right time,” Beach said of Shaw, who has played 322 games for Chicago over the past six seasons. “But you can’t put it on anybody else. The Hawks were great to me. Obviously, I wish I would have gotten an opportunity, played in the NHL and was still in the NHL, but the Hawks organization was truly first-class. It didn’t work out but that’s no reason (for me) to hate them.”

When Stan Bowman replaced Tallon as general manager in 2009, Beach lost his biggest advocate. A rash of injuries interrupted his progress. The Blackhawks becoming annual Stanley Cup contenders placed a higher priority on acquiring veteran pieces than developing young talent. Valid reasons can clutter the path any highly drafted prospect takes toward his potential but Beach refused to make excuses.

“There were a million things,” he said. “but I have to take responsibility for my part in it.”

Nobody can take away the memory of riding in the victory parade after the 2010 Stanley Cup title or the championship ring that sits in a safe inside Beach’s home in Kelowna, British Columbia. Chicago awarded Beach for belonging to the Black Aces, the group of players called up during the playoffs for practices.

“I didn’t really earn it because I didn’t play a game so it’s not something I show off a lot — maybe coaching in the summer league,” Beach said. “The dads enjoy it more than the kids but if it helps motivate someone to work toward something, great.”

The NHL carrot still dangles in front of Beach, and he remains committed to chasing it. The Austrian League, where the average salary is around $150,000, consists of a 54-game schedule on Olympic-sized ice against competition Beach compared to the AHL. In-season travel within the country allows Beach to spend most nights in his team-furnished apartment and get around in his team-supplied car. Built-in breaks afford Beach the opportunity to explore Paris and Rome and other European cities. Enough North Americans play in the league to create a comfort zone.

“You know half the league from either playing with or against them at some point in your career,” Beach said.

None of those careers went exactly as planned. The ones that do represent the exception more than the rule, something Beach wishes he would have known that unforgettable moment nine years ago Tuesday when he heard his name called at the NHL draft.

“Draft night is that time guys can sit back and reflect on what they have done but at the same time they have to look ahead,” Beach said. “Because the real work is just starting, believe me.”

David Haugh is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.