Dennis Beyak was a high school student in Winnipegosis and he was involved in drama.
Following a performance, an adjudicator approached Dennis and said have you ever thought of getting into radio because you have a great voice. At this time, Dennis thought to himself how much he enjoyed radio. Whether it was the cartoons that were played on the air, to the Saturday morning shows to the music, Beyak enjoyed radio from a very young age. So he got some information from the guidance councilors and that led him to the Canadian National Institute of Broadcasting in Winnipeg.
After completing his broadcasting course in Winnipeg, Dennis hit the road dropping off tapes to various radio stations throughout the province, and while Beyak admits this was not an easy process, he eventually got a call from his instructor asking if he was willing to move to the Hockey Capital of the North, Flin Flon. Beyak was ready to make the move and in 1970, Beyak began what will go down as an incredible career on the mic.
"I said absolutely when I was asked if I was interested in moving up to Flin Flon," said Beyak. "So I made the trip and I guess just went from there."
While his job at the start wasn't calling Flin Flon Bombers games, Dennis did eventually get a chance to call a Bombers game as they went up against the Brandon Wheat Kings and he went on to work in Flin Flon for a pair of years. Beginning in Flin Flon, Beyak accomplished much more than success only in the broadcast booth. From 1981-1990, he was the assistant general manager of the Saskatoon Blades and he followed that up by being the general manager of the Seattle Thunderbirds from 1992-1994 and the general manager of the Tri-City Americans from 1994-1995.
He was the chairman of the Memorial Cup tournament in Saskatoon on two separate occasions (Saskatoon in 1989) and (Seattle in 1992) and he was named the WHL Executive of the Year in 1989.
NHL Comes Calling:
So many years before, Beyak was doing play-by-play during street hockey games on the streets of Winnipegosis. Then 25 years after starting his broadcasting career in Flin Flon at CFAR, Beyak got a call from the Edmonton Oilers and he became the Voice of the team from 1995-1997 on CFRN-TV.
Beyak then went on to become the play-by-play voice of the Toronto Maple Leafs on AM640 Toronto Radio in 1998 and seven years later, he became the television play-by-play announcer for the Toronto Marlies.
Manitoba Bound:
The Atlanta Thrashers were a thing of the past and with it, it marked the return of the Winnipeg Jets in 2011. Playing in downtown Winnipeg, the Jets brought plenty of excitement back to Manitoba's capital and for Dennis, the return of the team marked another stop in his incredible broadcasting journey.
Beyak looked at his phone one day and on the other end was TSN, asking Dennis if he would be interested in moving back to Winnipeg to become the voice of the team for Jets 2.0.
"Bev and I said absolutely," said Beyak. "For a young guy growing up in Manitoba and getting an opportunity to go back home and call Winnipeg Jets games, it was special. It was a great way to end my NHL career in the booth."
Dennis went on to call Jets games for a decade before retiring from the NHL and now, Dan Robertson is the voice of the Jets on TSN.
On top of his NHL duties over the years, Dennis has also called games for TSN at the World Hockey Championships and World Junior Hockey Championships. Witnessing history at multiple International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) events over the years, Beyak says he cherishes the moments on the international stage just as much as his time in the National Hockey League and that he is forever grateful for the opportunities he has received over the years.
A Legendary Career Comes to a Close:
The stands were packed for a quarterfinal matchup between Finland and Slovakia at the most recent World Junior Hockey Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Beyak was on the call as Jere Lassila scored just 24 seconds into overtime to send the Finnish squad to the semifinals and with it, Beyak was nearing the end of his career.
He called one final game on January 2 at 10 a.m. local time as the United States went up against Latvia. With the game well in hand for the Americans, Craig Button presented Dennis live on air with a Flin Flon Bombers jersey.
It was an extremely fitting presentation seeing as Beyak started his broadcasting career in Flin Flon some 53 years ago and along the way, he became the favourite play-by-play announcer to many and an icon to so many more.
"It was very special, I think we all remember where we started and how important it was to me," offered Beyak. "To get that first opportunity to go to Flin Flon and to call my first game against the Brandon Wheat Kings, it is something that I will never forget."
Beyak also admits that while he will miss calling games, he was ready for the moment.
"I had come to grips with it, I think coming to grips with it in Winnipeg made things much easier," ended Beyak. "This past Spring in Riga when Latvia played Sweden at the World Championship, that was my last game at that event as well. When it came to the World Juniors, I had come to grips that this was it. My emotions were fine until the presentations started. During that final game between Latvia and the United States, we had a chance to reminisce in the third period when the game was already in hand which was nice."
If you ever listened to Dennis call a game, you listened to one of the best and if you're lucky enough, you'll get the chance to see him on a golf course in the future.
