Owen Beck made significant progress in several ways last season and owes a great deal of gratitude to a young Canadian retiree.

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“He probably wasn’t as good in training camp last year as he was in his first,” Rob Ramage, director of player development, said Thursday. Then we put Paul Byron on his case and he took everything Paul threw at him and his game took off.

“What surprises me most,” Ramage continues, “is his habits are similar to those of a professional. He also showed a lot of determination when he went to Saginaw, he went there to win.”

In fact, Beck had it all in Saginaw, where he scored 51 points in 32 regular-season games. He added 14 in the playoffs and five more in the Memorial Cup, which the Spirit won.

Game studied

Together with Byron, Beck analyzed every element of his game to become even better.

“He recorded a lot of my videos, watched a lot of them, kept some he liked and some he didn’t like, and then analyzed what he saw by asking me what I saw. He gave me suggestions that allowed me to become more professional and improve my game.”

At 20, Beck is ready for the next step. He knows that he will not play a single season in the Ontario Junior League in his final season.

“No matter where I play, I’m going to be professional, so I need to prepare as best as I can for the next camp so I can help the Canadiens or the Rockets. I want to excel whether it’s in the NHL or the American League.”

Packed by Hage

It is easy to see that Ramage is excited about the selection of Michael Hage with the 21^e First round selection.

“I had seen a little bit of it on video, but it’s very fluid. We see the skills are there and he’s moving quickly. He’s also showing a lot of confidence for a young guy, which is very exciting.”

In Hage’s case, we’ll follow his development year by year, but Ramage is pleased to see that the 6-foot-4, 185-pound center will continue his development at the University of Michigan, where he’ll be able to add muscle to his frame.

“With two games a week, he will have time to go to the training room. In addition, he will find himself in a good program.

Follow Demidov

Among the absentees of this development camp is obviously the first candidate of the last auction, Ivan Demidov, whom the Canadian selected in 5^e Rank, but Ramage already loves the young man.

“I met him briefly during the draft in Las Vegas and he seemed solid and confident and happy to join the Canadian.”

Demidov will play one more season in Russia before moving to the National League, so the Canadian will have to follow his progress from afar.

“It looks a little different for the Russian players due to the current situation, but we will keep an eye on him and Nick Bobrov [codirecteur du recrutement amateur] We are well connected, so we will do our best, but it is a slightly more difficult situation,” Ramage admitted.

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