Born	February 5, 1981 (1981-02-05) (age 28), Salmon Arm, BC, CAN
Height Weight	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 208 lb (94 kg; 14 st 12 lb)
Position	Centre
Shoots	Left
SEL team F. teams	HV71 NHL Pittsburgh Penguins Nashville Predators Columbus Blue Jackets Vancouver Canucks Washington Capitals
NHL Draft	7th overall, 1999 Washington Capitals
Pro career	2001 – present

Kristopher "Kris" Beech (born February 5, 1981 in Salmon Arm, British Columbia) is a Canadian professional ice hockey center, currently playing for HV71 in the Swedish elite league Elitserien.

[edit] Playing career

Beech was drafted 7th overall in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft by the Washington Capitals. At the time he was playing for the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL. Beech was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in July 2001 with Michal Sivek, Ross Lupaschuk and future considerations for Jaromir Jagr and Frantisek Kucera.

Beech appeared in 79 games for the Penguins recording 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 points. Disappointed with his development, the Penguins traded Beech on September 9, 2005 to the Nashville Predators for a conditional draft pick. Beech returned to the Capitals organization on March 9, 2006, having been traded, along with a first-round pick, for defenseman Brendan Witt. He was sent down to the Hershey Bears to join their AHL playoff campaign and helped them to Calder Cup victory against the Milwaukee Admirals.

On January 10, 2008, Beech was claimed off waivers from Columbus by the Vancouver Canucks.^[1] However, on January 23, 2008, after just four games with the Canucks in which he recorded one goal and one assist, Beech was subsequently placed on waivers and claimed by the Washington Capitals.^[2] Before playing a single game with Washington, Beech was once again placed on waivers, which led to him being re-acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins, Beech's fourth team in the month of January.^[3]

October 10, 2008, Beech signed one-year contract with the Swedish Elitserien team HV71. He joined his new team three days later.^[4]

April 28, 2009, Beech signed another contract with HV71, this time for two years.^[5].

On September 4th, 2009, Beech signed a six week contract with HC Genève-Servette. ^[6]. In his eight games with Genève-Servette, he scored two goals. On October 14th, 2009, Beech was returned to HV71.^[7].

[edit] Awards

• Ed Chynoweth Cup winner with Calgary Hitmen in 1999.
• Calder Cup winner with Hershey Bears in 2006.
• Elitserien playoff silver medal with HV71 in 2009.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Kris Beech's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database