Kristopher Beech was born on February 5th, 1981 in Salmon Arm, British Colombia. Although, he grew up in the nearby town of Sicamous, British Colombia. And, you may have guessed, he grew up playing hockey.
Kris obtained a diverse range of experience over the course of two decades playing hockey in the NHL, AHL, and, most recently, internationally. Kris played five seasons in the Western Hockey League (WHL) for the Calgary Hitmen from 1996-2001. He posted dominating performances in every season throughout his WHL stint.
Because of his outstanding performance as a centre on the Hitmen, Kris was drafted 7th overall by the Washington Capitals in the 1999 NHL draft. Shortly after the draft, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kris spent the next four seasons (2001-2005) playing on-and-off in the NHL for the Penguins. When he wasn’t playing for Pittsburgh, Kris played in the American Hockley League (AHL) for the Penguins’ affiliate team, the Wilke-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Kris then spent the 2006-2007 season playing for the Washington Capitals.
After hopping around a few more AHL and NHL teams in the 2007-2008 season, Kris signed his first overseas contract. He headed over to play in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL, formerly SEL) for a team called “HV71,” where Kris played a fantastic opening season in Sweden.
From 2008-2016, Kris played hockey all over Europe. He played two additional, successful seasons (2009-2011) for the SHL’s HV71 and followed by playing a season in Finland for the hockey club “Lukko Rauma.” Kris played in the Czech Republic for half a season, in Germany, in Austria, and, most recently, in Northern Ireland for the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) in 2015-2016.
Throughout his playing career, Kris earned numerous awards and accomplishments. He won the 1999 WHL Ed Chynoweth Cup with the Calgary Hitmen. Kris was named the MVP of the Wilke-Barre/Scranton Penguins twice (2003-2004, 2005-2006). He won the 2006 AHL Calder Cup with the Hershey Bears. He also won the SHL Silver Medal with HV71 in 2008-2009 and was named the SHL Le Mat champion with HV71 in the 2009-2010 season.
Apart from his decades of playing experience, Kris Beech has an enormous list of qualifications that make him an elite mindfulness coach. Kris became a Certified Personal Trainer, Performance Enhancement Specialist, and Corrective Exercise Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine in 2014. After that, he became a Certified Meditation Instructor through MacLean Meditation Institute in 2015. Kris then received a Master of Science (MSc.) in Sports Management from Ulster University Business School in 2016.
In 2017, Kris founded AIM Mindfulness, a business that helps athletes harness the power of meditation and mindfulness to improve in their chosen sport. In 2018, Kris joined HockeySkillsTraining.com where he is able to offer his experience & expertise in his online training videos to players everywhere.
You can also find Kris Beech at aimability.com
