BRAVE
ICE DOGS
ADRENALINE
MUSTANGS
BEARS
LIGHTNING
THUNDER
ICE
SUN AUG 4 at 3:30PM
NORTHSTARS
RHINOS
Erina Ice Arena
NORTHSTARS
RHINOS
| Player | Points |
|---|---|
| francis Drolet | 53 |
| Josh Adkins | 48 |
| Zane Jones | 47 |
| Riley Klugerman | 47 |
| Team | GP | W | L | OTW | OTL | CP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brave | 26 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 63 |
| Northstars | 26 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 56 |
| Lightning | 26 | 9 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 30 |
| Adrenaline | 26 | 4 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| Rhinos | 26 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Meet #5 John F Kennedy Jnr |
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John Fitzgerald Kennedy Junior, named after his dad who is named after the president, seems like a happy guy.The 27-year-old defenceman’s smile is contagious and his teammates say he is always good for a laugh. “He’s got a lot of energy,” teammate Jayson Chalker said. “He’ll make you laugh and smile. He’s good to have around.” And why wouldn’t he be happy? He’s achieving his goal of growing Australian ice hockey, pursuing his career in chemical engineering and recently married his partner Melinda. In fact, since making the decision to stay in Australia, Kennedy says he has not looked back. But it was not an easy decision to leave his Michigan home behind. “It was a big decision because growing up, your goals and aspirations are to go as far as you can with hockey,” Kennedy said. “Making a permanent decision to stay in Australia meant not [pursuing] the AHL [American Hockey league] and NHL [National Hockey League].” Ice hockey has been a lifelong passion. Kennedy, who is well known by fans as JFK, started ice skating when he was four and a half. He and his family caught a high school hockey game one day at the local rink. “I could barely see over the boards but I was trying to peek over and someone got checked right in front of me,” Kennedy said. “I lit up and looked at my dad… and I’m like ‘I want to play that’. And literally, that fire, that excitement, that passion, it’s been in me ever since I was a kid.” As a kid, Kennedy played AAA hockey and then three years of junior hockey, winning a national championship in his final year with Jon Cooper who is now coach of 2015 Stanley Cup finalists Tampa Bay Lightning. Next came four years of playing for his college, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Kennedy described thoseas some of the best years of his life. “Playing college hockey – you’re with those guys for four years, your class mates… It’s all for the guys in the locker room and that camaraderie – that’s what I love about hockey.” In one of his earliest college games Kennedy played in the packed Minnesota Xcel Energy Stadium that, according to the stadium’s website seats 20,000. He described it as tense but said: “It was just fantastic”. After graduating Kennedy played a year semi-pro for the Dayton Gems in the Central Hockey League. But he missed the teamwork of his college days. “I love the team aspect,” he said. “But getting into pro-hockey it almost became individual and it didn’t gel with me.” A trip to Australia to play for the Canberra Knights during the 2011 US hockey off-season saw Kennedy re-think his pro-hockey goals. “You have to have a driving passion in you,” he said. “You can’t go half-hearted or you’re not going to make it. I went home and did a lot of soul-searching. I kind of wanted to get my career [as a chemical engineer] started so I decided to come back and go from there. “I had a blast in Canberra during the winter so I figured Newcastle during the summer would be a lot better.” Kennedy originally planned a four year stay in Newcastle with a goal to help develop Australian hockey. He discovered that he shared that goal with teammates Dave Ferrari and Mat Lindsay and they formed the North Stars Academy. NSA, the climate, location and the friendly culture began to make a permanent stay look even better. “We started North Stars Academy together and with everything this area [Newcastle] has to offer, I’m like, ‘I just want to be here’,” Kennedy said. “And finding my wife here was frosting on the cake.” NSA provides year-round hockey tuition for all player levels, including school holiday hockey camps, and was inspired in part by Kennedy’s childhood experiences. “I started doing camps when I was 8 years old and I knew they were an integral part to my game,” he said. “If I didn’t do the camps I wouldn’t have become the player I was able to become.” When Kennedy describes teaching kids about hockey he comes alive. “Helping someone out or seeing a young player get the results that they want – you see their face light-up and spark,” he said. “Passing-on the game and growing it… That’s what we’re all about.” The good of the game and being part of a team are themes that Kennedy keeps coming back to and a reason he loves playing defence. “I’ve always loved defence. It’s fun to get the goals, don’t get me wrong, I didn’t get too many in my career but it’s fun. But I love when the game’s tight… And I’m helping my team seal the deal on a win, whether it’s blocking a shot or making the big hit that we need. That’s what I find value in.” Looking ahead, Kennedy said he would like to take NSA around Australia, developing the game by developing players. For the Newcastle North Stars he would like to see a bigger venue. “This place is amazing,” he said. “I want to see the city get behind the team because there is a great history, this is a winning team [with] a winning culture, and ice hockey has the potential to become a premier sport in Australia.” How could you not smile in the face of so much enthusiasm? |
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Contact Information
Newcastle Northstars
230 Macquarie Road
Warners Bay,
2282 Australia
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