He couldn’t eat. He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t even walk without suffering some of the worst pain of his life.
Worse though, he couldn’t bear the thought of another lost year.
“Luck wasn’t really on my side,” a healthy Jack Beck says now, looking back on that tumultuous campaign a year ago.
Beck, who had recently recovered from a knee injury, took a pair of hits on the same shift way back on Nov. 7, 2021 – the latter, smashing his torso into the sharp, yellow dasher that separates the boards from the glass. He was hurt and struggled to catch his breath, but dug deep and finished the game, helping his Ottawa 67’s beat the North Bay Battalion 2-1 in OHL action.
Steady, though, the pain got worse. And soon, it was entirely unbearable.
“We’re hockey players, right?” Beck said. “You always get hit. Some hurt more than others, but you’re always ‘hurt.’ You’re always playing through something.
“I honestly thought this was a bruise and nothing more.
“But a few days later, that’s when it really hit me. I couldn’t stand up after my pre-game nap. My billet mom always makes my pre-game meal, so I texted her right away and asked if she could stick around so we could talk. I think we were both a little worried, but I made it to the rink and saw the medical staff one more time.
“The very next day, I was in for testing. MRI, CT scan, ultrasound, blood tests. I was doing it all.
“The CT scan showed there was a cut in my kidney and it was bruised all around, with significant internal bleeding.”
Depending on the severity of the injury, a lacerated kidney can be life-threatening. Sometimes, emergency surgery is required to repair the organ and stem blood loss, but in Beck’s case, all he could do was wait for the kidney to heal itself.
“Obviously, I was pretty scared,” he said. “It’s not something you hear about every day and you quickly become worried about more than your hockey career. Like, how is this going to affect my life?”
For months, healing WAS his life.
Athletes, in general, are used to physical rehab. Typically, that involves exercise to encourage muscle recovery and strengthening the supporting mechanisms.
Here, it was nothing more than a waiting game.
“I couldn’t work out my upper or lower body,” Beck said. “I wasn’t allowed. I was literally bed-ridden the first eight weeks. Then, I would start doing five-minute walks a day and then my legs would start shaking. I felt like I did an hour-and-a- half workout. That was really tough, both mentally and physically.
“Our team, we skate in the mornings from 8 to 10:30 and then we work out from 12 to 1:15. I would wake up every day at 6:30 to get to the rink for 7:30, only to sit there and watch the guys smile, joke around about practice, have their friendly little chirps when they come off the ice and work out together. It was tough.
“You kind of feel like you’re not a part of the team anymore. It was torture watching everyone else do what you love the most.
“That was super hard to get over.”
Beck, though, believes that adversity builds character – and while he wouldn’t want to re-live the events of the 2021-22 season all over again, part of him is glad to have gotten that test of his mental fortitude.
When he returned to the ice in the new year, he popped off. Despite playing in only 36 games, he scored 22 goals, and his 44 points were second in team scoring.
He then led the team with three goals and four points in four playoff games, while enduring one last bit of abuse.
“I fractured my thumb in that series,” he says now, laughing. “Blocked a shot, went to emerge. I couldn’t even close my hand.
“But, hey. I had to battle through. I couldn’t think of leaving my team behind.”
The forward, who was selected by the Flames in the sixth round of the 2021 draft, is one of a handful of players that had their entire draft year wiped out due to the OHL’s COVID cancellation. To stay sharp, he skated with the HockeyEttan Arlanda Wings in Märsta, Sweden, and would have played games if he hadn’t returned home, believing the OHL would start back up again.
But it didn’t.
So, he made the trek down to Michigan, moved in with his agent, and kept training at one of USA Hockey’s premier performance facilities.
When autumn rolled around, he had his first Flames camp to look forward to… until that aforementioned knee injury kept him from participating in both the on-ice practice sessions, and the two exhibition tilts against the Edmonton Oilers rookies.
It’s been a long time coming, but Beck is back healthy again. And when he slips on the Flames jersey at the Young Stars Classic next week in Penticton, it will be a dream come true.
For a player that prides himself on his offensive ability, hockey IQ and “getting under people’s skin,” this is a perfect chance for the 5-foot-11, 151-lb. winger to introduce himself to Flames fans everywhere.
“It’s all I’ve been thinking about,” he said of the trip to BC “I was training in Calgary all summer and this is basically the first time I’ll get to put on that jersey. It’s going to be super surreal. It’s an opportunity to kind of make a name for myself and show that I could be a ‘steal,’ and that I’m going to be a great prospect for this team.
“With how hard I’ve worked, I’ve stayed positive through it all and now, all the hard work is paying off. You never want to deal with injuries, but I think I’ve come out the other side a better player and a better person.
“The way I look at it… It’s all part of my story.”
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