Peterborough Examiner Referrer

Unforgettable 24 hours for Beck

Petes centre hoping to build off of NHL debut experience to get game back to where he wants it

MIKE DAVIES EXAMINER SPORTS DIRECTOR MIKE.DAVIES@PETERBOROUGHDAILY.COM

When Owen Beck was called to the general manager’s office Friday, he thought he was going to be admonished.

He had no idea of the surprise that awaited him.

Beck hasn’t been happy with his play since joining the Peterborough Petes in a blockbuster deal Jan. 7. His production with the Petes — two goals and four points in eight games — is well below the 17 goals and 41 points in 30 games he accumulated with the Mississauga Steelheads.

“I haven’t necessarily had the production I wanted recently and the team is not doing as well as we would have thought after the trade deadline,” Beck said. “I thought that’s what it was about. I was preparing myself for a different kind of talk.”

Instead, Petes GM Mike Oke informed Beck he was making his National Hockey League debut with the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night in Ottawa against the Senators. He was being called up on an emergency basis by the injurydepleted Habs for one game and he’d be back in Peterborough by Sunday for their afternoon game against the Hamilton Bulldogs.

“It was exciting when they actually told me the news,” Beck said.

His first order of business was to call his parents, Dave and Tanya, to inform them he had to cancel their dinner plans.

“I was trying to think of a creative way to tell my dad I was going to be playing in my first game,” he said. “It was a pretty cool way to tell him. I caught him off guard.”

His dinner engagement that night in Ottawa was of a different kind as Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki invited Beck to join him and several teammates as they welcomed him into the fold.

“I had a really nice meal and got to talk to a lot of them,” Beck said. “It was something I wasn’t expecting. It was a class act from Suzuki and the rest of the guys. They really made my first game special and I really appreciate that. They made that 24 hours unforgettable.”

Those same teammates made Beck take the traditional rookie lap by himself in warmup without his helmet.

“I stood up and was ready to put my helmet and gloves on and I couldn’t find my helmet anywhere. It was like, I guess I’m going to do this without my helmet. I got out there and just tried to stay on my feet and soak it all in,” he said.

Beck played just under 10 minutes and was a minus-1 in a 5-0 Habs loss. “It was definitely not the result I wanted or expected but it was tough with the lineup we had. Everything apart from that was unbelievable and really a dream come true getting to see it come true in front of my own eyes. That stretch from 6:30, when I got to Ottawa, until 10:30 the next night was the best 28 hours of my life.

“I was happy with my game. I didn’t really make any plays that cost the team, which was a goal of mine. I really just wanted to blend in and be a contributing player.”

Now his focus turns to trying to get his game back to where he wants it.

“We seem to play down to the level of which our opponents are at,” Beck said.

“We don’t come to play our game every night. Since the trade deadline, we’ve played well against good teams and poorly against some weaker teams in the standings. That’s frustrating when you’re trying to build for a playoff push. It’s definitely something we have to figure out.”

The Petes host the Niagara IceDogs at 7:05 p.m. Thursday, visit the Kingston Frontenacs on Friday and host the Oshawa Generals for Pink in the Rink on Saturday night.

SPORTS

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2023-02-02T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-02-02T08:00:00.0000000Z

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