Draft is a day at the Beach for Hawks

He has been called junior hockey's bad boy, but that didn't stop the Blackhawks from making Kyle Beach their first-round selection on Friday's NHL draft.

The Hawks were surprised when the power forward from Everett in the Western Hockey league was still on the board with the 11th pick and general manager Dale Tallon didn't hesitate to call his name despite various reports of questionable behavior on and off the ice.

"We're not taking a chance on him, we really like him," Tallon said. "In the interviews we asked a lot of tough questions and he was honest with us. The things that went on are normal things a 17- or 18-year-old will do."

A story in the Ottawa Sun this week detailed some of Beach's past, such as a suspension for bumping a referee and how he once made fun of an opponent's birth defect.

Beach is an agitator in the mold of Sean Avery, but with top-end skill. In the last two seasons at Everett, he racked up 121 points and 418 penalty minutes.

"He has great hands, a great wrist shot and has a lot of edge to him," Tallon said. "He puts the fear of you know what in people. But this is a skill guy, a sniper, a point-a-game guy."

One scout suggested Beach might have been the second best talent in the draft behind Steve Stamkos, who went first overall to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

But the scouts that loved Beach also pointed out his temper and tendency to snap on the ice.

"By all the rumors, I should have about five different criminal records," Beach said earlier this week as the NHL's prospects luncheon.

Beach was saying all the right things on Friday after becoming a Hawk.

"There's been a lot out there, all these rumors that I can't do anything about," Beach said. "I met with the Hawks and we got to the bottom of a lot of things.

"I'm ready to move forward and past a lot of these things, and prove to the people in Chicago that I'm not the type of person they say I am."

Tallon and his staff are satisfied Beach can harness his emotions and be a productive player.

"We asked what went on and he said he did some silly things that he thought were funny but other people didn't," Tallon said. "It was nothing major. We talked to a lot of other people and they all had good things to say."

Beach missed part of last season with a sports hernia and has had at least two concussions. He said Friday he has been given a clean bill of health by doctors.

The Hawks plan to give the 6-foot-3, 203-pound Beach every chance to make the team in the fall. He certainly would appear to be a nice fit to play the left side and be the enforcer on a line with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.

"Definitely, he fills a need in our organization as a power forward," Tallon said.

There were several trades prior to Friday's draft, the biggest being Florida sending center Olli Jokinen to Phoenix for defensemen Keith Ballard, Nick Boynton and a second-round draft pick.

"We were interested, but they wanted too much," Tallon said. "We weren't going to give up our top prospects for that. We like Jokinen, but not at the price they wanted."

The draft continues today with rounds two through seven. The Hawks will have six more picks, but none in the second round.