Beach looks to dispel some 'crazy rumors'

Two days into the scrimmages at Blackhawks rookie camp, Kyle Beach has yet to distinguish himself on the ice.

Or find trouble off it.

The fact Beach has yet to stand out in two scrimmages is of no concern to general manager Dale Tallon, who knows last month's No. 1 draft pick is only 11 weeks removed from sports hernia surgery.

"He just needs to be ready for training camp," Tallon said. "I've seen enough already. He's big, strong and skilled. I don't think our opinions will be made this week, good or bad. Training camp will tell for him."

But changing opinions is what Beach is all about these days, particularly in light of what was written and said before the draft.

Beach was painted in some circles as a bad draft risk despite a level of talent some scouts rated second best among prospects behind only Steve Stamkos, who went first overall to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

For every report that pointed out Beach's big shot and physical strength, there was another calling him an undisciplined hothead, claiming he once beat up a garbage man with a bat, bumped a referee and made fun of an opponent's birth defect.

"I honestly can't tell you where they come from, but there are some pretty crazy rumors out there," Beach said Wednesday. "I have an opportunity now, being in Chicago, to kind of change that reputation and hopefully now I'm judged on what I do here and not what I've done before."

Some aspects of Beach's past are true. He does like to chirp on the ice and aggravate opponents. And he does like to fight. But he claimed before the draft that he never touched a garbage man.

"I've always played the same way, and players hated playing against me," said Beach, whom the Hawks drafted 11th overall. "(The reputation) definitely comes from that, but it kind of overshadows who I am as a person. People kind of look at me on the ice and assume that's how I am off the ice as well.

"I play right on the edge," said Beach. "The odd time I do cross it is something I'm working on, not crossing the line. To play on that edge is the way I'm effective."

Every team but Detroit and Dallas interviewed Beach before the draft, digging into his past.

"Every team wanted to get down to the bottom and find out the good, the bad, the dirty and what I was trying to hide from them," Beach said. "I really have nothing to hide. I don't have a criminal record. I don't do drugs. As far as I'm concerned, that would be the worst thing to have."

The Hawks did their homework and were satisfied with all the answers Beach gave in his interviews.

"He explained exactly what happened right down to the last word and took responsibility," Tallon said. "Some of it was his fault and some of it wasn't, but he was honest and forthright. We have no concerns."

Beach hopes to improve his first three steps as a skater before training camp and works out at the same gym as Brent Seabrook in British Columbia.

"I've got a lot of work to do, but I'm going to come here prepared to make the team," Beach said.

The Hawks aren't afraid to play rookies, and Tallon said there are several spots open at forward, naming Beach as a leading candidate to stick. Beach certainly has the numbers Tallon likes from the last two years of juniors with Everett in the Western Hockey League.

That would be 121 points and 418 penalty minutes.

Perhaps the best description of Beach came at the draft from NHL Central Scouting director E.J. Maguire, the former Hawks coach.

"The team that drafts Beach will be very happy to get him," Maguire said. "And the fans will be entertained for years to come."