Beckman named player of year
Saskatoon forward named league’s player of the year with Spokane Chiefs
Adam Beckman’s feet are itching to slide into a pair of skates.
The Spokane Chiefs forward and Saskatoon resident was named the Western Hockey League’s player of the year on Thursday, capping off a standout campaign that was cut short by COVID-19.
“I keep taking it day by day, hoping at some point gyms are going to open up,” Beckman said on Thursday.
“And at some point, I really hope skating can open up so I can get back on the ice. It’s been a long time.”
Beckman hasn’t been on skates in more than two months; not since he picked up an assist in a 3-0 Chiefs’ win over the Kamloops Blazers on March 10. The WHL halted the balance of its season shortly after.
That last-ditch helper ran Beckman’s season total to 48 goals, 59 assists and 107 points in 63 games. No other WHL player passed the 100-point mark.
Those numbers landed him the Bob Clarke Trophy as the league’s scoring champion, and he says he was “excited” to win the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy on Thursday as the league’s top player.
Beckman is now one of three finalists for the Canadian Hockey League’s player of the year award.
It punctuates what he calls a
“whirlwind” that stretched out over the last few months.
In March, Beckman signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the Minnesota Wild, who selected him in the third round of the 2019 NHL draft.
That NHL draft slot was higher than his WHL bantam-draft showing; he was selected in the fifth round, 96th overall, by Spokane in 2016.
Needless to say, talent evaluators then weren’t projecting the kind of season he put up in 2019-20.
“Being a later draft pick, I didn’t have a lot of expectations when I came into the league,” says Beckman, who put up 62 points in 68 games last season.
“The organization in Spokane did a really good job of managing my development, and I’m really thankful they made some of the decisions they did.
“It proves that anybody can accomplish something if you really want to.”
Like everybody else in the hockey world, the 19-year-old Beckman is waiting to see what happens next with COVID-19 and quarantines. He’s not sure if his immediate future lies in Minnesota or Spokane; he doesn’t know if he’ll be on skates sooner, or later. He doesn’t know when games will start up again.
There’s a spot in his Saskatoon back yard where he shoots pucks and works on skills, and an uncle has a place with weights.
“It’s difficult to plan,” Beckman said. “I keep saying take it day by day, but that’s really what it’s like — I’m trying to stay in shape, put on some weight and some muscle, and put myself in the best position to have a really good year next year.”
But no matter what happens and where he ends up, he’ll have that Four Broncos Memorial Trophy to build on.
“The number of really good hockey players in the league this year ... to be recognized is unbelievable,” Beckman said. “I’m so thankful to be in this position.”
The organization in Spokane did a really good job of managing my development, and I’m really thankful they made some of the decisions they did.