Ross Kennedy’s NIHL National winning mentality warmly welcomed at Leeds Chiefs

The 22-year-old was an integral part of the Telford Tigers team that won the inaugural NIHL National title last season, meaning it represents something of a coup that the Chiefs, who finished the campaign bottom, have been able to entice the defenceman to West Yorkshire.

Welsh-born Kennedy finished the season as the Tigers’ highest-scoring defenceman, posting nine goals and 26 assists in 44 games.

Prior to his time in Shropshire, Kennedy spent a season in NIHL One with Blackburn Hawks, having made the step up from Deeside Dragons, where he had come through the junior system.

But the stats from last season in Telford only tell part of the story for Zajac, who believes he is bringing in a player with his best years ahead of him, but one who has quickly picked up crucial valuable experience.

“Last year was a bit of a breakout for him because previously he kind of bounced around,” said Zajac.

“He was at Deeside for a bit, then at Blackburn Hawks, and he was even playing as a forward at times and never really settled.

“But last year, once he was at Telford under Tom Watkins, he definitely showed what he was capable of.

“So to land somebody like Ross says a lot about the kind of vibe that is around the Chiefs as a whole and what we’re trying to achieve here.

“When you are putting your roster together, there are not a lot of guys available that have won a league the year before.

“You might have 20 guys on that team and the vast majority are probably going to stay because they are happy to be there. So it is tough to pick these guys up meaning it is huge for us to bring in somebody who knows how to win this league and at such a young age too.

“He was such a vital cog in that Telford team, it is a massive coup for us.”

Zajac believes Kennedy brings with him the requisite speed and skill for a defenceman that is becoming such a vital part of the game these days, teams relying less on a heavy, physical presence on the back end.

But that does not mean he is any less likely to make himself known when playing a shift.

“One of the key areas that we wanted to improve on was having more speed and mobility on the back-end,” said Zajac.

“That kind of hurt us at times last season, we were maybe a little bit off the pace defensively, not just in defence but all over the ice, the whole team.

“But Ross is a guy who is very similar to Lewis Baldwin and everybody saw how effective he was for us last year.

“The way the game is going, it is not so much about needing your big thumpers back there and Ross brings that really good skating ability, that good first pass out of the D-Zone.

“We were at our best last year when we managed the puck well and maintained that offensive zone time.

“Essentially, the more puck possession you’ve got, the more successful you’re generally going to be and that is one area where Ross is definitely going to help us.”

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Thank you, Laura Collins