Nolan Beddow is playing prep school hockey at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, one of the nation’s best when it comes to player and student development.

Recently, the Parker native committed to play NCAA Division I hockey at St. Lawrence University, an ECAC Hockey school in Canton, N.Y. He’ll play for the Saints after junior hockey. One option is the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets after being drafted by the team in the 10th round (202nd overall) in 2023.

“Being at Shattuck has given me lots of exposure to many scouts throughout the year, scouts from the WHL, USHL and NCAA,” Beddow said. “From the exposure, St. Lawrence had seen me play multiple times and liked me as a player to the point where they gave me an offer. I’m not 100% sure yet when I will head there to go play, but I am for sure going to play a few years of juniors before I go.

“When I went on my visit to St. Lawrence, seeing the facility and campus, I fell in love with it. Knowing they are a great hockey team with great coaches, I knew I wanted to go there. I knew St. Lawrence is also a really good school with smaller class sizes, and lots of 1-on-1 work which would be a big part to me for my academics.”

Beddow noted that hockey and school have always gone together for him.

“Academics have always been a part of me being a student-athlete,” said Beddow. “At Shattuck, it really introduced it to me being on top of my work with getting good grades as well as performing at my top level on the ice. I would want to look into a business major, for sure, since my dad had started one to follow his path in life and to take his business over one day.”

Truth be told, hockey is fairly new in the Beddow household.

“My family was a big baseball family – my grandpa got drafted to the MLB and my dad played NCAA Division I baseball,” explained Reddow. “My brothers and I were the first to put the skates on and play hockey in our family. I am the middle child and my older brother was the one who wanted to play hockey after he watched a game. That’s where it all started, so him, me and my little brother all started around the age of three. I fell in love with hockey right away and never took a stick out of my hands. My older brother plays on the 18s team here at Shattuck and my little brother plays for the Tampa Bulls in Florida.”

In Colorado, Beddow played for the Krivo School of Hockey Elite and said “Krivo is the reason where I am today.”

“The development I got there was the best thing that could’ve happened to me with private lessons in the morning at 5 a.m. and then team practice at 6 a.m.,” Beddow said. “I went to the 5 a.m. lesson almost every day of the week where I worked on skills before team practice at 6 a.m. The coach that really stands out is Andrei Krivokrasov, my head coach at Krivo. He was the one coach that taught me what hockey was and developed me so much at the 5 a.m. lessons. There have been multiple coaches that really also made a big impact on me, like Dylan Bozeman, Joey Carroll, Mark Popovic, Kevin Clark, Sean Pitcher, and most importantly, every coach here at Shattuck who has taught me how to play hockey the right way.”

Getting to play for Shattuck has been “truly a blessing” for Beddow, who said he’s making daily memories in Faribault, Minn.

“To live with my teammates and go to class with them has really made a true brotherhood where I will be best friends with some of these players the rest of my life,” said Beddow. “Shattuck hockey has given me the best opportunity to be the best player I can be where we have lots of open ice, skills, team workouts, and team practices every day. I’m pushing myself and the person next to me to become our best selves. Shattuck has given me a personality as a player on the ice and from every coach to push me and our team at practice every single day is such a blessing as well. I can’t explain how great Shattuck is; everything about Shattuck more than hockey has made me become such a good person. I can’t wait to keep working hard and finishing this year to give my team and I the best chance to win a national championship.

“My short-term goals are to continue to keep my grades up and have a successful season with nationals this year. My long-term goal is to continue to work to be the best player I possibly can be and make it to the NHL or to study business and take over my dad’s.”

Photo/Mark Sorgaard/Fat Cat Studios

— Matt Mackinder

(November 14, 2024)