Terrace’s Brendan and Jeff Kennedy have chosen the Salmon Arm SilverBacks as their Junior A hockey destination for next season.
The brothers currently play on the Midget AAA team at the Okanagan Hockey Academy (OHA), which is a part of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League.
They travelled to Salmon Arm for a weekend earlier this month to meet players, coaches, tour facilities and practise with the team.
Both liked what they saw, and while official contracts won’t be signed until June, the commitment to play has been made by the players as well as the SilverBacks.
“We have committed roster spots to them, so they certainly will be SilverBacks,” said Tim Kehler, general manager and head coach for the team.
“For us, it was about going somewhere we were comfortable, and somewhere we could have success,” said Jeff, who adds they were treated very well by the coaches and current Silverbacks players.
Brendan said the decision to go to Salmon Arm had a lot of factors, but location was definitely high on the list.
“We wanted to live in the Interior,” he said. “It’s closer to home.”
Brendan also found, after talking over day-to-day routines with current ‘Backs players, that there are a lot of similarities to their present schedule at OHA in Penticton, and in size between Salmon Arm and Terrace.
Kehler is very happy with the twins’ decision to come to Salmon Arm.
“We are just thrilled that they are going to make Salmon Arm their home for their B.C. hockey league careers,” Kehler said.
“We are adding two good hockey players, two quality kids and people who we think will be a real benefit to our community for their junior careers,” he continued.
According to Kehler, while Brendan and Jeff play different positions on the ice, they embody a lot of the same attributes as players.
“They’re both physically strong kids for their age, they both skate well, and pursue the puck well,” Kehler said, adding that as captain and assistant captain respectively for their current team, they think both players possess tremendous leadership qualities and see them as being future pillars in the SilverBacks program.