‘Everything I do is for him’: Flames new guy John Beecher inspired by older brother

As kids, hockey was a big part of what bonded John Beecher and his older brother Bryce.

Now in his third NHL season, and about three weeks since he was scooped off waivers by the Calgary Flames, John feels like he is living out a dream for both of them.

“I’m honoured that he sees it that way,” Bryce protested in a phone interview from back home in Elmira, N.Y. “But from my perspective, I wouldn’t change anything to watch him accomplish what he has. I just enjoy being his biggest fan.”

The Flames, who entered Wednesday’s date with the Detroit Red Wings on a three-game winning streak, will all be thinking this week about those who have inspired and motivated them along the way.

Tuesday’s team visit to Alberta Children’s Hospital, where they decorated stockings and played carnival games with the courageous youngsters, always has that effect.

John Beecher, like so many, grew up admiring and idolizing his older brother.

Bryce was born with bilateral hip dysplasia, a condition that prevents those crucial joints from forming correctly.

John guesstimates that his lone sibling required between eight and 12 surgeries as a kid. Bryce had both of his hips replaced in high school, forcing him to step away from any contact sports.

“He had a lot of things thrown in his way,” John said. “And he never once complained and he’s never said, ‘Why me?’

“I think I can take that and learn from it and use that perspective in my own life.”

For example, during the 24-hour period in mid-November when John waited to find out if he’d be plucked off the NHL’s waiver wire, realizing he had to be ready to uproot his entire life but with no way of knowing where he might be headed.

The 24-year-old centre was claimed by the Flames. He was on a plane a few hours later.

His individual stat-line since the move has been underwhelming — heading into Wednesday’s matchup with the Red Wings, he’d recorded one assist and was winning just 38.0 per cent of his faceoffs in 10 appearances as Calgary’s fourth-line pivot — but he’s now feeling more settled with his new crew, saying, “the systems are kind of muscle memory again, which is always a good thing.”

Beecher’s biggest impact has come on the penalty-kill, with head coach Ryan Huska agreeing, “that’s the one area where I feel like he’s really stood out.” In almost 20 minutes of shorthanded action, he has been on the ice for only one power-play goal against.

That special-teams work — and the fact that he is over 50 per cent on defensive-zone draws — should keep him in the lineup as he tries to take full advantage of his blend of size and foot-speed and join the long list of NHLers who have benefitted from a change of scenery.

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“I think he looks good in red,” Bryce said. “I tell him all the time that I think the sky is the limit for him. With this new opportunity and fresh sets of eyes and maybe a little bit more confidence and a little more belief in him that just gives him a little more jump in himself, I think his game can go to another level.”

That sort of feedback means a lot to John, who was the Boston Bruins’ first-round draft pick in 2019 and played 136 games with the B’s before he was waived.

“He’s my biggest fan, no doubt about it,” John said of Bryce, who is three years older. “We talk every single day. Before every game, he’s telling me, ‘Good luck.’ And after every game, even if I played brutal, he’s going to text me and say, ‘Keep your head up. It wasn’t too bad.’

“I wouldn’t be out there today without him. Everything I do is for him.”

If not for Bryce, he might have never fallen in love with the sport.

As a tyke, skating simply wasn’t his thing.

“Johnny always tells the story … I started playing pretty young, my parents got me on the ice when I was two or three, and for the longest time, he did not like it at all,” Bryce said with a chuckle. “He always jokes that it was too slippery out there. So he didn’t start playing until he was five or six.

“But I think it was just that common ground for us. Whether we were at the rink, watching each other’s games, or we were in the driveway playing street hockey or in the basement playing knee hockey, it was just, for whatever reason, the one thing we always gravitated to. We’re blessed we both enjoy it as much as we do, just because we’ll always have that bond.”

Thanks to that double hip replacement, Bryce is now able to play rec hockey, something he is grateful for.

But nothing beats watching his younger brother in the big leagues.

“At the end of the day, whether he was doing a normal 9-to-5 or playing in the NHL, I’d support him either way,” Bryce said. “But to be able to watch him go through the whole system and accomplish what he has now, I couldn’t be any prouder of him.”

wgilbertson@postmedia.com