Name: Jake Kinney

Sport: Hockey

Grade: 12

Why is he athlete of the month: Kinney is captain of the high school hockey team along with assistant captains Leo Pawlika, Peter Cassidy, and Colin Morrow. During his high school career he has scored 69 goals and had 111 assists, giving him 180 points. He was voted player of the month by local media and high school coaches. This program is sponsored by the New Jersey Devils and Kinney will be presented a plaque Devils player to award him for his success.

What athlete does he look up to: Sydney Crosby, he plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Because he’s the greatest player in the world, he has unmatched work ethic and determination. He’s won everything there is to win in the game of hockey so thats pretty cool.

Why did you start playing hockey: My dad pushed me into it, he played at a young age and brought my brothers and I into the sport. I didn’t like it at first because I didn’t know how to skate. I used to sit on the boards and I had a coach who would shoot pucks at my fight until I shot them back and thats how he got me to play.

What are your goals for the rest of the season: Win our league championship and win our state championship which would be at the Prudential center. We have the talent the work ethic, the coaching, and the depth to do it. We lost a lot of good forwards including Justin Rosario and Tom LaMacchia last year as well as our really good goalie Matt Rosario, but were still going to be successful. The younger guys have been playing really well and some of the older guys have stepped into bigger roles as well, were really putting forth a good team effort.

Where is your favorite place to play: I don’t really have a favorite but the Ice House is the most familiar because I’ve played there practically my whole life. Its comfortable and close to home.

Do you practice at all outside of high school: I play on a travel team so I practice and play games with them. For my whole life I’ve had two practices for my travel team each week with two or three games per weekend. I also shoot around in by basement everyday because its fun to do.

What is your pre-game routine: Once I get to the rink and find out what locker room I’m in I eat a Nature Valley bar which is my pre-game snack. Then we normally have a team meeting and warm up off the ice. We this game called sewer, basically everyone stands in a circle and you have to keep the ball in the air without using your hands or arms. I’m superstitious so I do everything in same order for every game. Next step is to tape my stick and get dressed, I’m always the last one to leave the locker and get on the ice.