Work in progress
Q&A with Hong Kong coach, ex-NHLer Barry Beck
IZMIR, Turkey – Once he was an imposing blueliner and unquestionable leader for the New York Rangers, who also played with Wayne Gretzky at the Los Angeles Kings.
Today, he is nurturing a new generation of hockey players across the Pacific while also being head coach of Hong Kong. Going into the final round of games at the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division III in Izmir with a chance of winning bronze, Barry Beck speaks to IIHF.com about his unquenchable love for the game, the potential for hockey in South East Asia and refusing to hang up his skates.
You guided Hong Kong to fourth place at their inaugural World Championship Division III last year. Do you see much progress in the team's performance this year?
One thing I can say is that we are consistent and when I say that I mean that we are consistently inconsistent. I'd say the difference between our team and the better teams here is that they don't make the same mistakes that we do. At times during this tournament I wish I could put on my pads and get out there. I tell the guys that I might have lost one step since my playing days, but they tell me I've lost more than that, but I love competition and that is why I like to coach at this level because it is intense and there is pressure. But ahead of this World Championship we had six practices together with the senior men's team, so there is not much they can do with that few practices. So we're just trying to do our best, and I am trying to make things simple for them. I want them to be creative and enjoy the game, but you got to do the simple things well first.
Apart from coaching the national team you are also the General Manager and coach of the Hong Kong Academy of Ice Hockey since 2007, which is the fulcrum for hockey development in Hong Kong. What was it that made an all-star NHLer jump across the Pacific to take on such a challenge?
When I was first asked to go to Hong Kong to start a hockey camp, I was really looking for somebody else to do it. I was happy in Canada coaching kids, but the more I talked to Hong Kong the more interested I got. I grew up with a big Asian population in Vancouver and when I was invited over to Hong Kong I got very interested in their strategy and vision trying to develop and of promote hockey in Asia.