Sachem alum Keith Kinkaid to enter Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame

A Farmingville kid who grew up cheering for the New York Islanders is headed into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame after carving out a 10-season NHL career from Sachem High School East to the league’s highest level.

Keith Kinkaid, a 2007 Sachem High School East graduate from East Farmingville, will be honored Thursday, May 21, at 6 p.m. at Flowerfield in St. James. The Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame said the ceremony is sold out, underscoring the draw of a class it says represents one of the deepest and most impactful it has assembled.

For Suffolk hockey families, Kinkaid’s path carries a familiar local logic: start on Long Island, keep climbing, and prove that a player from a Suffolk rink can reach the NHL. Born in Farmingville on July 4, 1989, Kinkaid went on to play for the New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche, compiling 70 wins, eight shutouts and a .905 career save percentage.

The Hall, founded in 1990, said its mission is to honor outstanding people who have made substantial contributions to professional and amateur sports on behalf of themselves and Suffolk County. This year’s induction class is also being linked to America’s 250th birthday celebration, which the organization says fits its broader goal to honor the past and inspire the future.

In 2024, coverage of Kinkaid’s Islanders camp appearance described him as a Long Island native and a die-hard Islanders fan who has childhood memories at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. That detail helps explain why his rise still resonates in Suffolk, where young players grow up skating with the same local hockey landmarks in their sights and parents measure progress one rink season at a time.

The Hall’s annual ceremony has become a major Suffolk sports gathering. Its 2024 induction at Flowerfield was also sold out and honored 24 inductees, a sign of how strongly the county continues to embrace the players, coaches and builders who shaped its sports identity.

For Kinkaid, the Hall of Fame nod lands as more than a career marker. It turns a Sachem graduate’s climb through Suffolk hockey into part of the county’s own sports history, from Farmingville to the NHL and back home again.