1st Round Pick Beach Assigned To Rockford

Kyle Beach

From chicagoblackhawks.com: (link)

The Chicago Blackhawks have assigned left wing Kyle Beach, the team’s first choice, 11th overall, in the 2008 National Hockey League Entry Draft, to the American Hockey League’s Rockford IceHogs.

Beach, 20, led the Western Hockey League with 52 goals and tied for 11th with 86 points, both career highs, in 68 regular-season games with the Spokane Chiefs during his fifth junior campaign. The Vancouver, British Columbia, native ranked fifth in the WHL with a career-most 186 penalty minutes and finished fourth on the Chiefs with a career-best 34 assists and +22 plus/minus rating. He also paced Spokane with seven goals and shared first with nine points in seven postseason tilts.

During the regular season, Beach posted four hat tricks and netted two or more goals in a game 14 times, which includes a three-game stretch from February 13 to 17 when he collected eight markers. He collected multiple points in 27 of his 68 matchups, including two four-point outings. Beach notched at least one point in 16 of his final 19 regular-season games (23G, 15A), which included a season-high 12-game point streak from Jan. 27 to Feb. 19. He potted at least one goal in six of his seven postseason tilts.

Beach made his professional debut last season with the Ice Hogs after signing an amateur tryout contact with the Blackhawks affiliate on April 9, 2009. He posted 15 penalty minutes in two regular-season matchups while also appearing in one postseason contest.

Beach has racked up 273 points (82G, 105A) and 775 penalty minutes in 251 career regular-season WHL contests spanning five seasons with the Everett Silvertips (2005-09), Lethbridge Hurricanes (2008-09) and Spokane (2009-10). He has also registered 26 points (14G, 12A) and 104 penalty minutes in 42 career WHL playoff contests.