"I was just walking around and somebody asked my friend and I what part of Long Island we were from," Kennett said. "My dad was standing right there and he was like 'No, she's from here. We don't know what happened.'"
What happened was that Kennett, who grew up just outside of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, going to Minnesota Wild games with her parents, stumbled onto the famous YouTube video of Mathew Barzal living in Dennis Seidenberg's basement. After that pandemic discovery, the YouTube algorithm recommended her more Islanders videos and highlights, and she's been a fan ever since.
Watch: Youtube Video
Growing up a long way from Long Island, Kennett said the distance has made her even more steadfast in her Islanders fandom.
"It definitely makes me double down on my opinion, especially whenever I wear my jersey," Kennett said. "My old high school is two-time Wisconsin state champions. They're known for being a hockey school, so whenever I would wear my Islanders jersey, all of my teachers would call me out on it and I immediately had to double down on my opinion."
While most of her friends were either casual Wild fans, or didn't care about hockey, one of Kennett's close friends is the cousin of former Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy, who played for the team from 2014-2021. The two of them watched the games together, and Kennett said it was fun for her and her friend to watch Leddy play.
When Kennett first became interested in the Islanders during the pandemic, the games were closed to fans, so she hadn't ever been to see the team in person until last year, when the team came to St. Paul to play the Wild.
While Kennett said her family was initially surprised when she started supporting the Islanders, since she'd never shown much interest in the Wild, now the only source of conflict is over who gets to put their game of choice on their television.
