By Dave Pollard, guelphstorm.com exclusive

Long after most of his teammates had filtered out of the Sleeman Centre, Guelph Storm forward Taylor Beck sat cross-legged and sweaty on a mat in the team's weight room.

A lengthy stretching session had followed a post-game ride on the stationary bike and a stint in the cold tub was still to come. Never mind that Beck had just logged a ton of ice time, tallying a goal and assist in a playoff loss to the London Knights, there was still work to be done.

Just another day at the office for Beck, the Storm's newest superstar.

"He came back from Nashville's camp with a different frame of mind about what he had to do to prepare himself," Storm head coach and general manager Jason Brooks said of Beck, a third-round draft pick of the Predators in 2009. "He's stuck with the routine. And he's showing the rewards on the score sheet. His preparation was good last year; this year it's great because he's seen what the pros do. He gets lots of ice time so he knows if he doesn't he could be prone to injury. He's allowing himself to have success. I don't know I would ever say I expected him to get 90 points. But did I think he was capable of it? Yeah. He's got a nose for the net."

Clearly the extra attention to off-ice details ignored by so many other junior players paid off for Beck in 2009-10. The 18-year-old from Niagara Falls stayed relatively healthy all season and had a breakout year in his third season with the Storm, finishing fourth in Ontario Hockey League scoring with 93 points (39 goals and 54 assists). He was the first Storm player to break the 90-point mark since Martin St. Pierre racked up 110 points in 2003-04 and wound up winning the Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy as the OHL's top-scoring right winger.

"I had really high expectations coming into the year," Beck admitted. "I set goals and most of them I reached. I wanted to get 100 points. If I didn't get that (knee) injury (late in the regular season), I most likely would have gotten it. But I'm happy with 93 points. I've heard plenty of guys say (it's tough to get points in a Storm system that's perceived to be defence-first) but Brooksy gave me a lot of freedom. The freedom he's given me is really nice and rewarding, for sure."

While Beck put in the work that allowed him to increase his offensive output from 22 goals and 58 points as a sophomore, give an assist to the Predators. Skating at the Nashville training camp in September proved to be an eye-opening experience for the 6-foot-1, 202-pound winger. He saw the extra effort long-time NHLers like Jason Arnott were putting in and figured he's better get his act together when he returned to Guelph.

"Any time you get to be around NHL players it's going to rub off on you," Beck said of his pre-season experience with the Preds. "I saw NHL veterans working out in the gym after games. Now I have a better idea of what I have to do to make it to Nashville."

Put it down to maturity that Beck recognized he wouldn't make it to the NHL on talent alone. A gifted scorer who took giant strides in improving his defensive game this season -- he was a team-best plus-19 -- Beck re-dedicated himself to getting better on and off the ice and adopted a professional approach to his preparation. His skating still isn't where it needs to be but Beck, who still has at least one season of junior eligibility remaining, has shown a willingness to do whatever it takes to play at the next level.

"Oh, I believe he'll be a good pro because of what he is doing now," Brooks said. "He's got that professionalism in junior. The more he wants to be a pro, the more it will help our team because of that drive and determination. His progression has been outstanding from year one to year three but he can't be satisfied. He could arguably be our best defensive player next year. I'd like him to become a total hockey player."

Despite his personal success this season, it seems Beck still needs to prove his worth. The Hockey News' Future Watch edition had him ranked as Nashville's seventh-best prospect, five spots behind Windsor Spitfires defenceman Ryan Ellis and one notch above former Kitchener Ranger Nick Spaling.

He was, however, voted the Western Conference's third most dangerous player in the goal area in the annual OHL coaches poll. He was also selected to play for the OHL in the annual Super Series against a team of Russian selects.

But does Beck think he opened some eyes around the league this season?

"That's a tough question," he admitted. "I had high expectations so I'm not sure how other people viewed it."

Brooks viewed what Beck accomplished as a natural progression rather than a big spike in the learning curve.

"The thing about Taylor's year was he was pretty consistent," Brooks said. "He didn't have too many down times. That goes back to his preparation habits. He's an elite player in our league, absolutely. He works hard for it every day. It's not like he's the most beautiful skater, has the hardest shot or is a pure dangler. He works so hard and is rewarded for it."

There's a good chance Beck will also be rewarded with an invitation to the Canadian junior team's summer camp. The idea of getting the chance to try out for the junior team puts a smile on his face.

"It's hard not to think about things like that," he said. "The world juniors is every kids dream. It's definitely my goal for next year. Hopefully I can impress them and get a shot next year."

Brooks thinks there's a chance that could happen.

"I think he's definitely on their radar," Brooks said. "The area we've talked about with him is his overall defensive game. Everybody is offensive. It's like, 'What else can you do for me.' We have so many good offensive players in the CHL."

Sure, it wasn't the best of seasons for the Storm as a team -- a five-game series loss to the Knights ended what had been a season of promise -- but those who followed the team this season saw the emergence of a number of young stars, including Beck, Peter Holland, Michael Latta and Brandon Foote.

And the best might yet be to come.

"For Taylor and those other guys, don't be satisfied," Brooks said. "He's very important to what we do. Moving forward, if you've got more than one guy like that who's a threat, you become difficult to play against."