He's baaack!
Just when you thought you'd seen the last of Kyle Beach, the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Wednesday traded the WHL's bad boy to the Spokane Chiefs for defensemen Mike Reddington and Landon Oslanski.
So in other words, when the Americans play their U.S. Division rival, it will no longer be just the Spokane Chiefs, but the Chiefs and Mr. Beach. Buy your tickets now -- the circus comes to town Oct. 3.
The Hurricanes picked up Beach at the trade deadline last season from the Everett Silvertips, and the 6-3, 210-pound native of Kelowna was the second leading scorer for Lethbridge with 24 goals and 63 points, even though 30 of those points came while he was with Everett. In his three-year career, he's been an impressive point-a-game player with 187 points in 179 games.
But with the good comes the bad. Beach had 165 penalty minutes last season -- fourth in the league -- in just 54 games. He also was suspended by the WHL for seven games. In three seasons, Beach has 583 penalty minutes in 179 career games.
It's not too clear whether Lethbridge was shopping the talented forward, but Spokane GM Tim Speltz said he was in the buying mood for one of the top forwards in the league -- a list that included Mr. Beach, who was the 11th overall pick in the 2008 NHL draft by the Chicago Blackhawks.
"I think we knew with our D numbers we would have to move a guy or two," Speltz said. "We had 10 who could play. We felt we needed to add to our front end depth and get bigger, and he helps with that.
"It's really tough to lose a guy like Mike, when you look at what he's put in. In three years we had a lot of success with him, but he's always been one of the more underappreciated players on our team playing behind guys like Jared Cowen, (Justin) Falk, (Jared) Spurgeon and (Trevor) Glass. I think there (Lethbridge) he can be a key guy, if not the key guy."
Speltz said Beach was expected to be in Spokane for practice Thursday, but was hesitant to say whether he thought Beach might be the key piece to the puzzle that could lead to a division title.
"It's too early to project or predict what will happen," Speltz said. "The division will be close this year and a player here or there could make a difference, but it's too early to tell if one guy will make the difference."
When the puck drops, there are two things that are a given: 1. Mr. Beach is a talented player who can score. 2. Mr. Beach can't score from the penalty box.