In hockey the letters P.K. generally signify playing down a man with the opponent in prime position to put a goal on the scoreboard. For the Cornell men’s hockey team these initials stand for effort, desire to succeed and leadership. Senior co-captain Patrick Kennedy — or P.K. as he is often called — has been handed a tall task this season, wearing the ‘C’ on his chest a year after forward Colin Greening ’10 had the same honor bestowed upon him. While it will certainly be a tall task replacing a leadership group that led the Red to a 21-win season and an NCAA tournament appearance, Kennedy believes that his tenure at the helm should not be judged on a quick glance at wins and losses.
“No, definitely not,” Kennedy said when asked about the matter. “Wins … are always a nice thing, but our team right now is practicing really well — we’re accomplishing things — so you can’t always measure success in wins and losses.”
Heading into the third weekend of the 2010-11 campaign the wins have not been easy to come by for Cornell (1-3-0, 1-1-0 ECAC); however, Kennedy feels that many of the team’s younger players have been making significant strides early on in the year. The co-captain displayed his modest nature when asked about whether his leadership had anything to do with the emergence of the team’s rising stars.
“I think [senior co-captain Joe Devin] and I try to lead by example, but … [the younger guys] have really stepped up and it’s kind of a testament to their hard work over the summer and in practice,” Kennedy said. “So, I’m not really sure that [as captains] we had a whole lot to do with that.”
Original Author: Evan Rich