GIVE AN OLD FACE THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT

By: Nicholas Kukla
February 6, 2008

On January 26th, I received a text message from the Penguins mobile-alert system and was absolutely shocked by the words on my tiny screen. The subject line said “breaking news.” Sadly, it wasn’t an open casting call for “Sudden Death 2.” Sequels are never as good as the original anyways. Maybe Geno Malkin became homesick and decided to return to Mother Russia, already having a fruitful career in the prison-themed restaurant biz? Thank god no. Was the big French guy stepping down from the owner’s box to take a few shifts on the power play and rescue our Crosby-less Penguins? Wishful thinking for the kid in me, but no…although I hear he’s in the best shape of his life. What could possibly shock a die-hard Penguin fan after all that has happened in this franchise’s …well…”colorful” history?

Kris Beech is a Penguin once again.

I couldn’t believe it either. Kris Beech? It felt like something the 2003-2004 Penguins would have done. Things like picking off the garbage heap for players that can do nothing more than fill a jersey. You know the type. The Mike Eastwoods, Landon Wilsons and Brian Holzingers of the world. The guys that leave a poor little kid disappointed on “Shirts Off Our Backs Night, mainly because the little kid has no idea who the hell just give him or her their jersey. But then I started thinking. I haven’t actually watched Kris Beech play hockey in four years. Maybe he finally found his game. There has to be a reason he keeps getting a shot to play in the NHL. The days of a young Kris Beech and co. seem like a distant memory as we watch the high-flying Penguin team of today. I was legitimately shocked when I heard the news, but Beech coming back really has no effect on my life. I thought, if he does well, he’s a nice pickup. If not, he’s banished to the press box for the stretch drive. That’s when I realized I’m kind of rooting for the guy. A diehard Pens fan rooting for Kris Beech? Billy Tibbetts is probably rolling over in his jail cell.

Perhaps no Penguin player in recent memory has been as reviled in this city as Kris Beech. If you sat amongst the die-hards at the old barn in the Hill back in those days, you really could feel an honest disgust towards the young center. I was there and I felt it too. Maybe it was the fact that he was the centerpiece of a trade that sent our beloved Jaromir Jagr on his way to the hated Capitals. Maybe it was the fact that then General Manager Craig Patrick said that Beech had “Ron Francis like abilities,” essentially setting the kid up to fail. Good one Mr. Patrick. I don’t know how you could have possibly put more pressure on Beech than comparing him to one of hockey’s immortals. Most likely, it was the 10 goals and 17 assists in 95 career games with the Pens. It was a terrible offensive output from a no. 7 overall pick with his size (6’3”, 207) and supposed “playmaking ability.” Now that I’ve brought back all those bad Beech memories, I have a plea for all of the Penguin fans out there. Stop the hate. On the eve of his glorious return to the Mellon, give Kris Beech a chance.

Seven years ago, the Penguins didn’t. Beech had almost nothing going for him when he arrived in Pittsburgh back in 2001. He was immediately billed as the next big time star for the Penguins, and someone who could help fill the void when Jagr was taking his act to Washington. He was thrust into the lineup immediately and didn’t produce. As expected, the fans turned on him. Do you remember Ross Lupaschuk or Michal Sivek? No? Neither do a lot of local hockey fans. They were the other players that the Pens got in that dreadful Jagr deal. While neither had the pedigree that Beech owned, they were expected to contribute to the team in a fairly regular role. Lupaschuk and Sivek combined never contributed anything close to what Beech did with the Penguins, and now both are toiling in mediocrity overseas. Their names vanished from the lexicon of Penguins fans. Beech’s is still brought up among fans, but almost never in anything close to glowing terms.

It’s been a long ride back to Pittsburgh. He’s been through Nashville, Vancouver, Columbus and Washington twice! He’s rode the buses of the AHL though Hershey and Milwaukee. Rumor has it he even spent a season as a greeter at the Desert Inn. Sorry for the BASEketball reference… The Penguins are his fourth NHL team this year. Not this season, I mean literally this year, and it’s only February.

Point is, after a lengthy battle with international customs laws, Beech is a Penguin again. He has 11 points in 20 NHL games this season. That’s a 45 point pace over a full NHL season. That would have put him sixth on last year’s team, ahead of notables Jordan Staal, Erik Christensen, Colby Armstrong and Ryan Malone. I’d take that, and I bet a lot of Penguins fans would too. He has spent time with Michel Therrien in Wilkes/Barre. He played on a line with Colby Armstrong with the Baby Penguins. There is some rapport between Beech and some of the guys on this tight knit Penguins team.

Now that we all know that he’s not the heir apparent to Mario and Jaromir, maybe we can accept that Beech can be a solid role player on a team that could really use some depth right now. Maybe now we can also realize that Beech was used by Craig Patrick to try and justify an obvious salary dump back in 2001. Jagr didn’t want to be here anymore, and under the old CBA the Penguins couldn’t afford him anymore. Teams weren’t giving up top talent to give the Penguins when they knew Patrick had to take what he could get for his disgruntled star. Not having Beech on the ice that opening night would have looked like a cop out on Patrick’s part. Probably even an admission of failure.

I’m curious to hear the reaction of the crowd at the arena when they see the familiar face with a new number. Beech will be skating in his brand new RBK Edge Penguins jersey with the number 24 instead of his familiar 16. Anything for jersey sales I guess. Speaking of jerseys, aren’t hockey fans supposed to exemplify the notion of rooting for the name/logo on the front, instead of the name on the back? Penguins fans, say it with me. Give Kris Beech a chance.