Beau Bennett, the most heralded Californian in NHL draft history, wanted to make one thing clear before revisiting his glorious day in June.
“I don’t play for the Pittsburgh Penguins,” the 18-year-old said this week while wearing a crimson-and-gold sweater. “I play for the University of Denver.”
Indeed, Bennett is a Pioneer, but for the record, he’s likely a future Penguin and unquestionably a California youth hockey pioneer.
The DU freshman forward is nearly four months removed from being selected by Pittsburgh in the first round, No. 20 overall, of the NHL draft held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, near his hometown of Gardena. Shortly after getting selected higher than any California prep player in history — a fact bellowed to the partisan L.A. crowd by the draft announcer — he was introduced to Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.
“It was an all-California, all-L.A. audience, and one of their own was being chosen in the first round,” said DU coach George Gwozdecky, who attended the draft to support Bennett and two other incoming Pios who were selected in later rounds. “There was a tremendous amount of excitement, and you could certainly sense how proud the audience was. They stood up and gave him an ovation.”
And so did Crosby. NHL players don’t usually have anything to do with a team’s draft-day selections, but in making Bennett’s day even more memorable, hockey’s biggest star put his stamp of approval on the Penguins’ pick.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” Bennett said at a DU practice this week. “It was just a surreal moment. You grow up watching him, watching him win a gold medal for Team Canada (in February) by scoring the overtime goal. Meeting him at the table was unbelievable, and having the opportunity to maybe play with him down the road is unreal.
“But the biggest thing about that day was being there, at home, with family. My grandma and aunt were there, and my grandma wouldn’t have been able to travel anywhere and my aunt doesn’t fly.”
Bennett had already signed with DU by draft day. How long he’ll stay at DU is open to question. In all likelihood, Bennett will follow in the path of Paul Stastny (2006), Tyler Bozak (2009), Joe Colborne (2010) and Patrick Wiercioch (2010) and sign after his sophomore year.
“I think Pittsburgh is very pleased that Beau is at Denver, and he will develop here and get a great start towards his degree,” Gwozdecky said. “But Pittsburgh certainly is going to hope that he is ready to turn pro before he graduates. It’s a fact we have to face every year with a lot of guys. Whether you’re a first-round pick, a seventh-round pick or undrafted like Tyler Bozak, (leaving early) is what we have to deal with now.”
While Bennett is perhaps the biggest young hockey star to come out of California, DU has had success recruiting on the West Coast. Bennett, who graduated high school with a 4.0 grade- point average, chose DU in part because of the success former southern California players such as Gabe Gauthier and Rhett Rakhshani had with the Pioneers.
Gauthier, who played on the 2004 and 2005 NCAA championship teams, wore No. 9, and Rakhshani, DU’s leading scorer and a first-team All-American last season, inherited the number in 2006.
“Big shoes to fill, for sure,” Bennett said. “By no means am I where Rhett left off last year, but hopefully I can come in, try to make an impact, do the best I can, gain some weight and hopefully help the team win a lot of games. I really want to continue the legacy with California kids.”
The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Bennett played triple-A youth hockey for the L.A. Junior Kings and California Selects before following his older brother to the British Columbia Hockey League (junior-A) last season. He led the league in scoring with 120 points, including 41 goals, in 56 regular-season games for the Penticton Vees. He amassed the most points since Bozak, now a top-line center for the Toronto Maple Leafs, had 128 in 2007.
“He’s a great skater, and his hands and work with the puck is top-notch,” said DU sophomore defenseman Matt Donovan, another NHL-bound player who is likely to sign with the New York Islanders after this season. “One-on-on, (he’s) very tough, one of the best. I think he can be as good as he wants to be.”
At home, he’s already a legend.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
