Jamie Kennedy

Born: September 7, 1946 - Charlottetown
Position: Center
Height: 5.08
Weight: 175

A feisty forward and brother of Forbes, Jamie Kennedy scored 321 goals and 630 points in only 588 professional hockey games.
Jamie entered the hockey scene in 1967 when he participated in the Memorial Cup tournament with the Halifax Jr. Candians, a team that included Islanders Bob Whitlock and Errol Thompson as well as future NHLer Bobby Sheehan. His solid performance earned him his first professional hockey contract in 1968 with the Jersey Devils of the Eastern Hockey League. He racked up 40 goals in his first season with the club followed by 49, 46 and 50 goals seasons.
In 1972 the newly formed World Hockey Association brought new opportunity for many players and Kennedy was among them. He was selected in the Rebel League’s 1972 General Player Draft by the New York Raiders. On July 12 of the same year Kennedy signed a contract with the team and would suit up for 54 games with the short lived Raiders hockey club. The remainder of Jamie’s season was spent with New York’s farm team in the IHL. In his first and only season in the WHA Jamie potted an unimpressive 4 goals. The Raiders could not compete with the New York Rangers, whom they shared Madison Square Gardens with, and were sold at the end of the year. Kennedy’s career in the WHA was over after only part of one season.
The Easter Hockey League in which Kennedy had played his first 5 season of professional hockey for with the Devils folded in the summer of 1973. Its death gave birth to two new leagues, the North American Hockey League and the Southern Hockey League. Kennedy would play in each during his final three seasons of pro hockey. His first stop was with the NAHL’s Syracuse Blazers. The league that inspired the movie Slap Shot, the NAHL was a rough league and 3 of Jamie’s teammates compiled 280+ penalty minutes. One of those players was Bill Goldthorpe, the man who Ogie Ogilthorpe’s character was based after. The rough play didn’t slow Kennedy down and he netted 44 goals and 90 points during the season helping his team capture the regular season title. With 13 goals in the post season he lead the league and was instrumental in helping the Blazers capture the Lockhart Cup as league champions.
Jamie played his final two years of pro hockey with the Winston-Salem Polar Twins of the SHL and tallied 59 goals and 132 points during that span. The 1974-75 Polar Twins iced and impressive 4 PEIers as Don MacAdam, Peter Williams and Bob MacGuigan skated for club coached by Jamie’s brother Forbes. The following season another Islander in Angus Beck would team up with Kennedy.
Following the 1975-76 season Kennedy left pro hockey in the United States and returned back to Prince Edward Island were he would lace up for Charlottetown’s Senior hockey team for years to come, even leading them to a Hardy Cup as Canadian Senior A champions in 1981.