Nolan Beddow’s defensive involvements in this game were excellent and frequent, it seemed as though every time I noticed someone breaking up a pass it was him. He pressed high up at the blue line and was able to get his stick on several D to D passes and knock them loose, earning himself a great chance going forward for himself and holding the puck and allowing his team to get up with him at other times. He recovered well and back checked hard, making a very nice sticklift to pick the pocket of one of the Purple players and quickly turn up ice on the attack. He used his speed well down the sides to help kill penalties, and upon gaining a step on his man he was eager to throw the puck towards goal where he got some very good power on his shots.

I think the word I would use to describe his game today would be intense. Whether he was beating defenders off the rush through their stick and body or accelerating on the outside through his crossovers or pushing that quick footwork on the backchecking effort through the neutral zone, he had an intensity to his pacing. He created quite a few transition plays on his own which led to quality scoring chances but came away with zero points. The effort was noticeable though.

Early on, I found that Beddow could be a catalyst for Team Blacks effective transition sequences. Playing on a line with Jacob Monks, he participated in many an effective give-and-go play, but also pushed himself to make some challenging solo drives to the middle of the ice. He plays with excellent pace and doesn't seem to be intimidated by sizable opponents or heavy traffic. Continuing to play this style effectively will mean maintaining the strength to compete against bigger peers, but at this point he seems up to the challenge. When a window of space is available, there's zero hesitation in his game. His decisions to accelerate into open ice were seamless, often leaving a significant gap of space in his wake and highlighting both his quickness and ability to recognize said windows.