Barry Beck

Barry David Beck (born June 3, 1957) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and currently the head coach of the Hong Kong national team. Beck was selected second overall in both the 1977 NHL amateur draft and the 1977 WHA Amateur Draft from the New Westminster Bruins. Beck helped the Bruins win the 1977 Memorial Cup, and was awarded the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. He opted to move to the NHL over the WHA, and began his career with the Colorado Rockies. He also played for the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings over the course of his career, and retired in 1990.

Junior career Beck played one game with the Kamloops Chiefs in 1973-74 before being traded to the New Westminster Bruins of the Western Hockey League (WHL), in June 1974 for Barry Melrose, Gary Plamondon, and Dan Clark. He excelled for three seasons at New Westminster. In 1975-76 he turned in a dominant effort scoring 19 goals and 99 points while also racking up a team high 325 minutes in penalties. The following year his point totals dipped to 62 but helped the Bruins capture the 1977 Memorial Cup, and Beck was chosen as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. After ending his junior career on a high note, Beck was selected second overall in the 1977 NHL amateur draft by the Colorado Rockies.

Colorado Rockies Beck exploded onto the NHL scene with the Rockies, racking up 22 goals (a higher total than he had ever achieved in junior) which set an NHL rookie record for goals by a defenceman. More importantly, the Rockies secured their first-ever playoff berth. Beck capped off the successful season by being the runner up to Mike Bossy for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's top first year player. Beck thoroughly enjoyed his time in the Mile High State. "There wasn't any pressure on me (in Colorado)," Beck recalled. "For one thing, there was hardly any media coverage, and there weren't very many fans. The first year was great. We'd just party and have a good time. We got to go to all the nice bars, I could buy a nice car, and we had a great apartment (he roomed with Randy Pierce). I think when you are 21 that is about as good as it can get. When we made the playoffs that year, it was even more exciting!"

During his second year in Colorado, Beck's point totals dipped and the team failed to make the playoffs. Beck approached the Rockies management about renegotiating his contract based on his successful rookie campaign. The Rangers acquired Beck on November 2, 1979, in exchange for Pat Hickey, Lucien DeBlois, Mike McEwen, Dean Turner and future considerations.

New York Rangers

After toiling in relative anonymity in Colorado, Beck was excited to join one of the NHL's oldest franchises. "When I got to New York, I thought: 'This is what hockey is all about. Playing in a historic arena like Madison Square Garden in a city like New York City.' You have to be consistently good every night as a player, instead of every other night. The highlight memory was putting on a Rangers jersey and skating out on the Garden ice for the first time." Beck scored a goal against the Los Angeles Kings in his first game at Madison Square Garden When he did play, Beck never approached the lofty offensive totals he managed in Colorado or in his first season with the Rangers, something that was not lost on broadcaster Bill Chadwick, who infamously urged him to shoot the puck more often. The phrase, "Shoot the puck, Barry" is still known by many Rangers fans to this day.

Beck's injury-riddled 1985–86 season would end up being his last in New York. At the end of the season, nursing a bum shoulder and frustrated with Ranger coach Ted Sator, Beck walked away from the club citing "philosophical differences" with Sator, who had also clashed with Rangers Mark Pavelich, Reijo Ruotsalainen, Pierre Larouche and Walt Poddubny. "There are philosophical differences between Coach Ted Sator and myself,' Beck said in a statement issued through his agent. 'This does not necessarily mean I'm retiring, but at present I don't want to play hockey in the upcoming season." When Rangers General Manager Phil Esposito fired Sator on November 21, 1986, he invited Beck to return to the club but he declined. "Phil's announcement today does nothing to change my decision to sit out this season. However, as I have said before, I continue to leave the door open for a possible return to the team." On September 1, 1989, the Los Angeles Kings sent a fourth round draft pick to the Rangers to secure his rights and he joined the Wayne Gretzky-led Kings for the 1989–90 season. Beck struggled with the Kings and eventually found himself being used sparingly. Kings General Manager Rogie Vachon, who had acquired Beck and inked him to a one-year deal, felt he lacked the foot speed to play in the up tempo Smythe Division. "He has been frustrated going in and out of the lineup," Vachon said. "Because he may not have had the speed, he compensated by playing conservatively." Beck took issue with this assessment saying "They told me I couldn't handle it. If that's what they're thinking, maybe they've got to go with it. I didn't think I was all that bad."

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1973–74 Langley Lords BCHL 63 8 28 36 329 — — — — — 1973–74 Kamloops Chiefs WCHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1974–75 Kamloops Chiefs WCHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1974–75 New Westminster Bruins WCHL 58 9 33 42 162 18 4 9 13 52 1974–75 New Westminster Bruins M-Cup — — — — — 3 0 3 3 11 1975–76 New Westminster Bruins WCHL 68 19 80 99 325 17 3 9 12 58 1975–76 New Westminster Bruins M-Cup — — — — — 4 1 3 4 13 1976–77 New Westminster Bruins WCHL 61 16 46 62 167 12 4 6 10 39 1976–77 New Westminster Bruins M-Cup — — — — — 5 3 5 8 13 1977–78 Colorado Rockies NHL 75 22 38 60 89 2 0 1 1 0 1978–79 Colorado Rockies NHL 63 14 28 42 91 — — — — — 1979–80 Colorado Rockies NHL 10 1 5 6 8 — — — — — 1979–80 New York Rangers NHL 61 14 45 59 98 9 1 4 5 6 1980–81 New York Rangers NHL 75 11 23 34 231 14 5 8 13 32 1981–82 New York Rangers NHL 60 9 29 38 111 10 1 5 6 14 1982–83 New York Rangers NHL 66 12 22 34 112 9 2 4 6 8 1983–84 New York Rangers NHL 72 9 27 36 132 4 1 0 1 6 1984–85 New York Rangers NHL 56 7 19 26 65 3 0 1 1 11 1985–86 New York Rangers NHL 25 4 8 12 24 — — — — — 1989–90 Los Angeles Kings NHL 52 1 7 8 53 — — — — — NHL totals 615 104 251 355 1014 51 10 23 33 77

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1981 Canada CC 7 0 0 0 2 Senior totals 7 0 0 0 2

Awards WCHL First All-Star Team – 1976 & 1977