19-year-old defenseman Beamish retires due to severe head trauma

This was supposed to be the exciting journey to the NHL for a young talented blue liner. However on Friday, that 19-year-old kid put an end to his dream and retired from hockey. 

Defenseman Luke Beamish has retired from the Erie Otters and OHL due to health reasons. The player suffered a concussion back in 2018 and hasn’t been the same since. 

On Friday, he announced that to make sure he can be a healthy human being, he needs to step away from hockey. Beamish has decided, under the advice of his family and Erie’s medical team, that the risk of further injury is far too great to continue playing hockey.

“The years I was in Erie was a great experience,” Beamish said. “Everyone was so helpful, from the staff, coaches, management, ownership, teammates, fans and billets. Unfortunately, I had to stop playing due to injury problems and the safest thing to do would be to walk away from the game. This is one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make, but I just wish the team and the organization great success, and I’ll miss everyone. Thank you all.”

Beamish played in the Otters first 13 games of the season and recorded two assists before concussion like symptoms returned.

He started his career in the OHL as he was selected by the Owen Sound Attack in the third round, 51st overall in the 2016 OHL Priority Selection. He was later trade to Otters in a trade on January 6th, 2018. With the Otters he played in 52 games and scored his first two OHL goals and tallied 17 assists during parts of three seasons with the team.

He retires with a record of 84 OHL games played in his career and a total 20 points (2G-18A) over that time with two teams. 

We wish him all the best moving forward.