Last week, forward Owen Back, defenseman Cal Uens, and defenseman Charle Truchon were recognised, each with Academic All-Star honours during the 2021-22 season. Forward Owen Beck was named the recipient of the Bobby Smith Trophy, awarded annually to the top student-athlete in the Ontario Hockey League. Cerebral Owen Beck was the 10th best North American skater by NHL Central Scouting heading into the NHL Draft, also named CHL Scholastic Player of the Year. Cerebral Owen Beck admitted that not being selected in the first round was a bit of a bummer but did not have to wait too long on day two of the Draft to hear his name called in front of a roaring crowd at Bell Centre. Beck was ranked 10th among North American skaters by Central Scoutings’ final rankings before the Draft, so there was indeed a chance that he would have been selected in the first round. It was an excellent feeling, a tremendous relief, Beck said after being selected with the top overall pick on Day 2.
The Canadiens were really impressed by what they saw out of the cerebral Owen Beck, both on the ice and off. I have good traits, such as skating and shooting, which would translate very well into the league, and simply being able to shut down an opposing team’s top line is a precious asset to have in a player, Beck explained. He got as much as possible at school and did the things on the ice, which shows up in his game. He does a while learning the inner workings of hockey as a rookie. One need only look at his results to see why the Mississauga Steelheads centre was rewarded with the highest accolades this past season, being named the Academic player of the year in the OHL and the CHL.
Owen Beck posted 21-30-51 overall numbers over 68 games with the Mississauga Steelheads last season, ranking fifth among rookies in OHL scoring while winning 60.6% of his faceoffs. After Emily’s two years with Okanagan Hockey Academy, Emily has blossomed into the type of player who is completely ready for post-secondary play at the University of Wisconsin.
According to the press release on May 17, which announced the winner of the Bobby-Smith Trophy as the top player in the OHL, Beck had taken on a significant course load, including mathematics and data management (99%), upper functions (96%), world religion (95%), kinesiology (94%), chemistry (93%), and English (90%), which has led to a total grade point average above 94%.
