It’s hard to find a Western Hockey League player (WHL) who had a better season than Adam Beckman.
The Minnesota Wild prospect captured the league scoring title with 107 points, led his Spokane Chiefs to one of the best records in the WHL and signed his first professional contract.
Now he is a finalist for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as WHL player of the year.
“It’s quite an honour, I think. You know there’s so many great players throughout the Western Hockey League that could have been nominated for this, especially in the Western Conference, and I’m just really thankful to be nominated,” Beckman said.
The Saskatoon native, who’s up against Lethbridge Hurricanes forward Dylan Cozens for the award, is the only WHL player to reach the 100-point plateau this season and his 48 goals were also a league-high.
Hitting the century mark is an achievement Beckman ranks right near the top of his personal highlight reel.
“My teammates, they were just so happy and excited for me and I think that’s something that I’ll always cherish forever,” he said.
Beckman’s accomplishments — which included playing for Team WHL in the CIBC Canada-Russia Series in November — are even more impressive given the fact he’s only one year removed from his rookie season in the league.
That’s because rather than playing for the Chiefs during his first year of junior hockey eligibility, Beckman was assigned to the Battlefords Stars of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League.
At the time, as a 16-year-old with designs on playing full-time at the junior level, Beckman was not a fan of the decision. But now the Chiefs’ investment in his long-term development is paying big dividends.
“I wasn’t the happiest, but looking back on it I think it was a great decision. You know, I got to come into the league with confidence and be the player that I was in midget rather than maybe being changed into something that I wasn’t,” he said.
Now he’s poised to become only the fourth player in the last 30 years to earn player of the year honours in his 18-year-old season and the eighth Saskatchewan-born player to claim the award since 1980.
“Coming from a province like Saskatchewan you just want to represent it with pride and humility and I think this is a good way to do it and that would be pretty awesome if I could do that,” Beckman said.
The winner of the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy will be announced on May 20.