Ready or Not: Bittersweet Opportunity Arises For Kyle Beach

Opportunity appears to be far and wide at Chicago Blackhawks Prospect Camp after the Stanley Cup roster diminished half the team.

One name that’s admired by countless fans and media personalities is Kyle Beach.

Beach, the 6’3”, 202 pound enforcer is getting a lot of “ooh’s and ahh’s," but he is also raising some eyebrows.

During this summer Beach fought a fellow teammate Matis Olimb twice during scrimmage.  Regrettably for Olimb, he will be missing four months with a shoulder injury due to the fight with Beach.

Blackhawks General Manager, Stan Bowman stood by Beach and his aggressive behavior.

Beach scoring 53 goals and totaling 86 points last season in the WHL seems almost too good to be true for such a young player.

He can score, pass, fight and pretty much contribute that way Dustin Byfuglien did in time.  Sadly, though, Beach gives the impression that his lack of discipline could make the Blackhawks as a whole suffer.

Last season in the WHL he accumulated 186 penalty minutes. With the loss of some key experience players on the Blackhawks penalty kill unit, this can stir trouble for the Blackhawks and Beach’s NHL career.

Beach has what it takes to add to the Blackhawks depth, but many questions will be raised if he has the motivation to become more relaxed like the rest of the team.

Beach is a big physical force on the ice.  His nose for the net also made him one of the top prospects in the 2008 draft, but unless he keeps his emotions under control, Beach will more than likely be at the Metro Centre at the start of the 2010-11 season.

Mikal Elyse is a Contributor for bleacherreport.com and partner of chicagosportsauthority.com.