Height: 6'0
Weight: 190 lbs
Position: Center / Left Wing
Date of Birth: 24 Jan 1961
Shoots: Left
How did you end up playing in the QMJHL with the Castors? Were you drafted or did you sign a contract? Do you remember any of the details?
Originally I got scouted by Sherbrooke at the Wrigley (National Midget Championships) in Moncton. Then when I played Junior A the following year, they spoke to me again in Halifax and interviewed me here later on in Charlottetown. At that time, the Maritime region wasn’t heavily scouted and they certainly had no such thing as Central Scouting, so the contact with the team was infrequent. They told me that they were going to draft me in the third round, but never did. They told me afterwards that they were scared off by my knee injury that I had that year in Junior. In the end, they offered me a tryout, and I went to camp and was successful in making the team. I also knew that if I wasn’t successful in Sherbrooke, I had an open invitation to go to Hull, but Sherbrooke was where I always wanted to play, so I was glad I made the team
What kind of player would you have described yourself as?
I was primarily a goal scorer. I had a hard slap shot that certainly served me well for many years. I was also a pretty good playmaker and took a lot of pride in setting up nice plays. I saw the ice pretty well and had good offensive instincts.
What was the highlight of your hockey career?
Certainly my first year in the league. We were predicted to finish ninth out of the ten teams in the league. We were supposed to be in a re-building year after losing a lot of big players from the previous year such as Rick Vaive, Mark Green and Ron Carter. However, in camp they decided to go with more younger guys like myself, Jean-Marc Gaulin and Andre Cote up front, Corrado Micalef in nets, and some younger defensemen on the blueline. We seemed to have pretty good chemistry and a good blend of youthful exuberance and talent mixed in with some veterans from previous years such as Serge Boisvert, Alan Haworth, Jimmy Mann and Louis Begin. We ended up finishing first in our division, swept Verdun and Chicoutimi in the first two rounds, but ended up losing to a very strong team from Trois Rivieres in the league final. We certainly created a buzz in a hockey mad town and “Beaver Fever” (La Fievre des Castors) was alive and well in Sherbrooke. It was pretty exciting for a young man from Charlottetown to be that close to making the Memorial Cup Championships in my first year, something that I had always dreamed of doing.
How did you end up with the Laval Voisins? If you were traded do you remember the players involved?
Early in my second season with Sherbrooke, it was announced that the AHL was going to be moving into Sherbrooke the following year. Given that, it was felt that there was no room for a Q team as well as an AHL team , so this would supposedly be the last year for the Castors. We were a first place team at the time, but then the organization decided to unload all their young players for more seasoned veterans, in the hopes of loading up for a good run at the Memorial Cup. Gaulin and Cote got shipped off to Sorel and then the back-up goaltender and I ended up being traded to Laval for Bernard Gallant and a guy who I don’t remember. Gallant had played with Trois Rivieres the year before and scored 95 points, and Laval had previously acquired him in a big trade over the summer. He was a pretty hot commodity at the time. Unfortunately for Sherbrooke, the team had a ton of talent, but could never find the proper chemistry to succeed and ended up losing to Cornwall Royals, who had players like Dale Hawerchuk Marc Crawford, and Dave Ezard, in the finals once again.
Do you have any favorite moments or stories from you days in the QMJHL?
Scoring my first goal in the league with my parents up visiting me at the time was a memorable moment. It’s always nice to get that monkey off your back, but to score a really nice goal with my parents in the stands was neat. I hadn’t seen them since I left for camp in late August so it was a pretty nice reunion.
Something that was unique with our situation in Sherbrooke was that all the players lived together in a former nun’s residence. There was no other major junior team in Canada at the time, or none that I have heard of since, who had such an arrangement for their players. It was called “La Hutte des Castors” and was located across the street from our home rink Le Palais des Sports. We had a husband and wife team that served the roles of full-time cook and full-time housekeeper. We also had another guy who would take care of our schooling needs, checked us for curfew every night at 10:30, and served as a liaison between the players and management.
The upside to an arrangement like this was that you got to know your teammates very well and it really served to unite the team. The organization was extremely well run and they had very high expectations of their players, both on the ice and off the ice. We were well known everywhere in town and were constantly being watched. It was nice to be so recognized but at the same time it certainly put us under the microscope. Not a lot of people get that sort of opportunity, so I am very thankful to have had it, and to have played for such a classy organization as Sherbrooke.
Another highlight would have come from getting the chance to play with and against some highly talented players who would become excellent players in the NHL: Ray Bourque, Denis Savard, Guy Carbonneau, Dale Hawerchuk, Marc Crawford, Alan Haworth, Normand Rochefort, just to name a few.
Even though I am a staunch Bruins fan, I have to admit that it was pretty cool playing in the Montreal Forum, an arena so steeped in history and tradition.
Other than being named an all-star twice while playing for UPEI, did you receive any other awards or recognitions while playing?
I was voted Rookie of the Year my first year. Also, I was selected to participate in a pre-Olympic tournament over Christmas in Czechoslovakia in 1983. The Olympic team in 1984 was to have been selected from players on that team, as well as players from another Canadian team that played against a touring Russian team (the same team that ended up brawling in their game here at the Forum). However, I injured my knee in November and couldn’t go so I got replaced by Terry McKenna, a teammate of mine at UPEI. That would have been a special tournament to participate in, but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. Still, it was nice to be considered among the final list of players for selection to the Olympic Team for Sarejevo.
You played with and against a number of future NHL players. Who was the player(s) you found stood out the most?
Ray Bour
que had to be the classiest, and best, player I have ever played against. He could control a game like no-one else and truly excelled at all aspects of the game. What was remarkable about Bourque was that he played as physical of a game as anyone in the league, yet nobody would run him or cheap shot him - they all had such a deep respect for him, and he showed that in return to his competition. I can proudly say that my line was one of two lines assigned to shut him down in our semi-final series, a series which we won in four straight games, largely because we were able to shut down Bourque.Denis Savard was, in a word, magical. He could do things with the puck that no-one else duplicate. He could bring you out of your seat while watching him from the bench, he was that exciting. Savard played with Le Junior de Montreal on a line called “Les Trois Denis”: Savard, Denis Cyr (who was drafted 8th overall by St. Louis and played with Savard in Chicago, but wasn’t nearly as successful), and Denis Tremblay, who did not progress to the pros but was still quite a good junior player. They were an awesome line and were a treat to play against. Equally intriguing was the fact that the three of them were all born on the same day in the same year- I believe it was Feb 24th, 1961.
Although he became a defensive specialist in the NHL, Guy Carbonneau was anything but as a junior with Chicoutimi. He ended up second in the scoring to Jean-Francois Sauve (Buffalo) both of my years there and was a very slick centreman. I always admired him for his offensive ability and creativity .The fact that he finished second was even more impressive, given that he had no-one with him on the team of any repute. He pretty much did it alone.
Even though he was a rookie, I knew that Dale Hawerchuk was going to be a special player. He had Gretzky like instincts, and a competitive edge that set him apart from players his age. He was a treat to watch and really brought a lot of credibility and respect to the Cornwall organization.
Norman Beck's hockey stats
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