Montreal Canadiens: Owen Beck Adds Three More Points In Comeback Win

Montreal Canadiens prospect Owen Beck has opened a lot of eyes in the hockey world this season. It is not that he was completely unheard of before, since he was a second round draft pick, but he is proving to be much better at 18 years of age than anyone expected.

It all started in his first rookie camp with the Canadiens. He was arguably the best player in attendance from start to finish, kind of stealing the spotlight away from first round picks Filip Mesar and first overall selection Juraj Slafkovsky.

Beck continued that strong performance into Canadiens training camp and was great in their exhibition games. He was rewarded with an entry-level contract but was sent back to the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL just before NHL camp concluded.

To go from a mostly unknown prospect to one of the final cuts as an 18 year old second round pick was quite a start to the season for Beck. The Port Hope, Ontario native has continued to ride that momentum well into the OHL season.

With yet another strong performance yesterday, Beck now has 15 goals and 29 points in 20 games. That puts him 10th in the OHL in scoring and top five in the league in goals scored. His skills were on full display in the Steelheads 5-3 win over the Kingston Frontenacs.

Beck’s first point was an assist on what looked an awful lot like a power play, but was his line’s regular shift at even strength. Beck cycled up high while his team was in full control of the play and fired a one-timer on goal that was stopped, but his teammate Luke Misa pounced on the rebound to tie the game at one.

A lot of Beck’s skills were on display on his second point. The puck jumped into centre ice while his team was attempting a breakout on the man advantage. Beck accelerated to get to the loose puck and quickly toe-dragged around an opponent before gaining the offensive zone with speed and possession.

The puck gets knocked off his stick and heads to the corner, but Beck is able to absorb contact and still win possession on the ensuing puck battle. As soon as he does he fired the puck back to the point to his open teammate. The puck is then quickly moved across ice where Chas Sharpe steps into a one-timer and fires it home to once again tie the game.

The assist wasn’t a highlight reel play, but the ability to transition up ice with the puck, gain the offensive zone, win a puck battle and move the puck to an open teammate are all skills of Beck’s that make him a great two-way player.

Beck’s third point was not going to get thrown on to his highlight reel either, but it displays a couple more things he does well. First of all, his team is winning by a goal with 40 seconds left and Beck is the one chosen to take the defensive zone faceoff. That just shows he is a trusted defensive player, as well as being one of the most dangerous offensive players in the league.

The 6’0″ and 190 pound centre easily, cleanly wins the faceoff straight back, where his defenceman has an easy route to it. In what is obviously a set play, that defender hammers the puck around the boards to a streaking winger who wins a race to the far boards.

That winger is James Hardie and he fires the puck about 150 feet into the open net to seal the win for the Steelheads.

This game was not a jaw-dropping performance from Beck. In fact, it was a very routine game from the 33rd overall pick. But that is what is special about this player. He just does the right thing all the time, is always in the right spot, wins faceoffs and puck battles, finds teammates with quick passes and shuts things down in the defensive zone.

Oh, and he puts up three points quietly to jump into the top ten in league scoring even though he missed the first two games of the season while at Canadiens camp and was held scoreless for the first two games he did play.

Beck now has 27 points in his last 18 games which is 1.5 points per game. He is as good defensively as he is offensively and has already proven there is no way he should have bee available when the second round of last year’s NHL Draft began.

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