Long Island Native Keith Kinkaid On Attending Islanders Camp: 'This Is A Childhood Dream'
By Stefen Rosner,
1 days ago
On Wednesday, goaltender Keith Kinkaid signed with the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League, ending his professional tryout with the New York Islanders.
Below is my interview with the Long Island native on the experience:
Keith Kinkaid got to live out a dream for the last month.
The 35-year-old goaltender attended New York Islanders rookie camp, then training camp on a professional tryout.
A native of East Farmingville, New York, Kinkaid grew up a die-hard Islanders fan. He shared that some of his best memories came at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
"It's pretty cool," Kinkaid told The Hockey News.
Kinkaid and Lou Lamoriello go way back.
In 2011, the Hockey Hall of Fame general manager signed the then-undrafted Union College sophomore goaltender to a two-year entry-level contract, kick-starting his professional career.
"I even told Lou when he first invited me to camp, I was like, 'Playing for the Devils was pretty cool. But this is a childhood dream.'" Kinkaid said.
Signing Kinkaid to a PTO was a no-brainer for Lamoriello. The local kid had been training all summer at Northwell Ice Center, the team's practice facility, hitting the ice with the NHLers during informal skates.
Also, with starting netminder Ilya Sorokin not available due to back surgery, having an extra goalie on the ice was important.
The odds of Kinkaid leaving training camp with a Blue & Orange contract was slim to none. He knew it. The Islanders knew it.
But it's an experience that Kinkaid was never going to forget.
"Even to just come to camp and wear the Islanders jersey was so special," Kinkaid said. "It's definitely an honor to put the jersey on."
Kinkaid started camp with just a plain white helmet, but by the end of it, he had a little Islanders sticker as decoration.
"I had to buy a sticker," Kinkaid said jokingly. "Nah, they had a few stickers. Those are their helmet stickers. We got the little 'Ron Hextall' look going."
Stefen Rosner
Taking part in rookie camp as a 35-year-old was an experience in itself.
"It's been an experience for sure, definitely tiring," Kinkaid said with a laugh. "It's been a lot of skating. I don't know if you saw our goalie puck skills out there, but we were pretty good.
"It's definitely fun, and it is definitely cool to get to know these young guys too, share my experiences, and find out what it was like to be in a rookie camp again. I know some main camps aren't as hard as this."
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