LAS VEGAS 鈥� Jay Beagle can still remember the hurt. Beagle was 18 when he was released from a tryout with his hometown Calgary Hitmen of Canada鈥檚 Western Hockey League. His hockey-playing career was potentially ending before it even had a chance to take off.
鈥淚鈥檒l never forget walking out of the room after being cut,鈥� Beagle recently recalled. 鈥淢y grandpa and dad (were) standing there and they were trying to pick me up after being cut from a dream of playing for the Hitmen.鈥�
Beagle was crushed. His father and grandfather told him to keep chugging along.
鈥淭hat was a big moment in my life and my career,鈥� Beagle said. 鈥淭hey stood by my side, they encouraged me and that kept me motivated.鈥�
Beagle would ultimately spend two seasons skating for the Tier-II Calgary Royals 鈥� a notch below the WHL鈥檚 Hitmen 鈥� before spending two years at the University of Alaska-Anchorage as a grinding forward. The NHL wasn鈥檛 exactly around the corner.
鈥淭he best part about playing in Alaska,鈥� Beagle said, 鈥渋s that when I got to the minors, the bus rides didn鈥檛 seem so bad.鈥�
With his academics slipping, Beagle left school after his sophomore season in 2007. He was 21 when he tried his hand at pro hockey. He signed with the ECHL鈥檚 Idaho Steelheads for a few hundred dollars a week in March 2007, hoping to use the end of the season to make enough of an impression that he鈥檇 be brought back the following year. If it didn鈥檛 work out, Beagle was prepared to become an electrician.
Eleven years later, Beagle is a spark plug for a Washington Capitals team on the verge of winning the Stanley Cup. The Capitals lead the Vegas Golden Knights three-games-to-one with Game 5 Thursday from T-Mobile Arena (8 p.m.; WFED 1500AM).
鈥淭his is why we play the game,鈥� Beagle said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the dream we all have growing up 鈥� to be able to contribute and have a chance at winning the Stanley Cup Final.鈥�
‘IF YOU LIKE HIM, SPEND THE MONEY’
Beagle is now 32 but he remains the same hard-working, blue-collar grinder that caught the Capitals鈥� attention during that 2007 cameo appearance with Idaho.
Longtime Capitals scout Steve Richmond had been tipped off on Beagle earlier that season and kept him on the radar. With Idaho facing the Las Vegas Wranglers in the ECHL conference semifinals that spring, he decided to see him play in person. There was one problem.
鈥淚 tried to book a last-minute flight and it was really expensive,鈥� Richmond recalled.
Richmond ran it by Brian MacLellan, at the time the Capitals鈥� Director of Player Personnel.
鈥淭here鈥檚 this kid from Alaska,鈥� Richmond told MacLellan. 鈥淚t will cost a fortune to see him and I can only see him one game. Should I go?鈥�
鈥淲ell, if you like him,鈥� MacLellan told him, 鈥渟pend the money.鈥�
鈥淟ooking back,鈥� Richmond said more than a decade later, 鈥渋t鈥檚 the best money the Capitals probably ever spent.鈥�
Richmond flew to Nevada, figuring he was the only scout at Vegas鈥� Orleans Arena paying any attention to Beagle. He was quickly sold, watching this undrafted, hardly-sought-after kid fighting off veterans, taking big faceoffs, and playing a prominent role in the playoffs in a pro hockey league.
鈥淗e was terrific,鈥� Richmond said. 鈥淗e was big, he could skate. The thing I liked about it, he went to the net. He had had no fear. He was a factor.鈥�
Richmond met Beagle after the game and wined and dined him.
Well, he sort of wined and dined him.
Of all the establishments at one鈥檚 disposal in Las Vegas, Richmond met Beagle at a TGI Fridays in the lobby of the Orleans Hotel. Eleven years later and some two miles away at T-Mobile Arena, Beagle could potentially raise the Stanley Cup on Thursday.
鈥淭his is as big as it gets,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the biggest game of our lives. You wait your whole life for an opportunity like this.鈥�
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED
The distance from the Orleans Hotel to T-Mobile Arena may be a mere two miles, but Beagle鈥檚 journey with the Capitals has been a long and winding road.
It started with the meeting over potato skins and mozzarella sticks at the chain restaurant with Richmond inviting Beagle to the Capitals鈥� summer development camp in northern Virginia.
It wasn鈥檛 a contract. There were no promises. It was simply an opportunity. As the Capitals prepared to trot out some of their more coveted prospects at the 2007 summer camp, they needed a few extra bodies to help round out the numbers. Enter a free agent like Beagle.
By the time the Capitals camp started, Beagle was a month removed from winning the Kelly Cup with the ECHL champion Steelheads.
鈥淭he Steelheads were awesome,鈥� said Beagle, who had a goal and three points in 18 playoff games. 鈥淚t was great exposure. If I went to a team that missed the playoffs, or barely got in and lost first round, you don鈥檛 get exposure and who knows where you go from there with your career.鈥�
The title was nice, but the camp was bigger.
鈥淚鈥檝e never worked so hard in my life (as) that summer,鈥� Beagle recalled. 鈥淎s soon as we won the Cup, I went straight into training. I came into that development camp like it was a main camp. I came into camp in great shape and I was going to give it everything I had.鈥�
It may very well have been Beagle鈥檚 only chance at catching the eye of an NHL team. He played like it and the Capitals noticed.
鈥淚 had called his coaches in Calgary in the Alberta junior league and his coach in Anchorage,鈥� Richmond said, 鈥渁nd the first thing each coach said was, 鈥楬ardest working player on the team.鈥� And if you have the hardest working player on the team and he鈥檚 got some talent, which Jay had, you knew he had a good chance to play.鈥�
Soon after the camp, the Capitals signed Beagle to an American Hockey League contract, which later became a two-way deal with the NHL club. Beagle would spend parts of four seasons with the Hershey Bears, winning back-to-back Calder Cup championships in 2009 and 2010 and earning the occasional NHL call-up.
By the start of the 2011-12 season, as he approached his 26th birthday, Beagle was a full time NHLer. He has gone on to play more than 550 regular-season and playoff games for Washington, and is quietly the third longest-tenured player in the organization, behind only Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.
鈥淵ou smile every time you see him step up on the ice — 500-plus times in the NHL,鈥� Richmond said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if there are too many undrafted free agents that play that many games with one team, really. None that came out on a tryout, that鈥檚 for sure. For a kid coming out on a tryout when nobody on the staff knows him, except me at the time, to end up where he is right now, good for him.鈥�
A RARE TRIFECTA WITHIN REACH
Beagle has stuck around thanks largely to hard work and his serving as a glue guy that does the little things necessary on a championship run. He has been a fixture on the Capitals鈥� fourth line for years, while serving as a key cog on the penalty kill and consistently ranking among the NHL鈥檚 top faceoff men.
Perhaps it鈥檚 no coincidence that Beagle could become the first player to complete the trifecta of winning the Kelly Cup (ECHL), Calder Cup (AHL) and Stanley Cup (NHL).
鈥淗e鈥檚 made for the playoffs,鈥� said goalie Braden Holtby, teammates with Beagle since 2009 with Hershey. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen Jay play in the playoffs for a long time. That guy is an absolute warrior. He鈥檚 a gamer — he shows up every single game and does the little things right. He鈥檚 probably one of, if not the most, respected guy in our locker room.鈥�
Beagle has come a long way from the summer camp tryout, to the occasional call-up to one of the most trusted players on a team on the cusp of winning the Stanley Cup.
He also recognizes that this could be his final chance with the only NHL team he鈥檚 known. Beagle is in the final year of his contract and is slated to become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty cool to look back on,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been blessed with the opportunities. It鈥檚 just amazing. I believe in God and I believe that God has definitely put me in places in for reason.聽 Looking back, it鈥檚 just undeniable. It鈥檚 been pretty special and obviously Steve Richmond had a huge part in my career because he invited me to that development camp.鈥�
Richmond is in his 16th season with the Capitals and now serves as the club鈥檚 Director of Player Development. George McPhee, Richmond鈥檚 roommate in 1984 when they both played for the Central Hockey League鈥檚 Tulsa Oilers, hired him in Washington in 2002.
鈥淓very scout and coach and GM always has their favorite players,鈥� Richmond said. 鈥淥bviously, I have a special interest in Jay because I was there from the beginning. Every time I see him play, I smile. My wife does too because she knows the story. She鈥檚 a big Jay Beagle fan. But who isn鈥檛 a Jay Beagle fan?!鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 an ultimate pro,鈥� said teammate T.J. Oshie. 鈥淗e comes to the rink every day and puts in twice the effort and twice the work as everyone else.鈥�
It was that work ethic that earned Beagle an invite to the Capitals summer development all those years ago, and has allowed him to flourish with a Stanley Cup in sight.
鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy when you look back it,鈥� said Beagle, who has two goals and eight points in 22 games this spring. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a great journey and I want to continue that journey. This organization has given me so much and it鈥檚 a great organization to be a part of. It鈥檚 been an awesome ride.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great story,鈥� Richmond said. 鈥淏ut he wrote it. We were just taking notes. He was a great find for us and he鈥檚 a great inspiration for anybody who plays hockey, just what hard work will do for you.鈥�
