Kieran O'Connor
"If you're not happy with my opinion, you can take off, eh?"Kieran Vincent O'Connor
N I C K N A M EK.O.
B I R T H D A T EDecember 7, 1990
A G E26
G E N D E RMale
S E X U A L I T YStraight
R E L A T I O N S H I P S T A T U SSingle, so if ya know someone, hey, let me know.
O C C U P A T I O NFreelance Hockey Analyst
H O M E T O W NHarbour Grace, Newfoundland, Canada
E T H N I C I T YCaucasian (Irish with a hint of Norwegian)
A P P E A R A N C EBeing an ex-athlete, Kieran still looks the part. At 6'3", 220lbs, his body has maintained most of its shape from his playing days, but he has started slacking a little more lately so the muscles aren't as well defined now. Kieran avoided most of the shots to the face, so he still looks presentable, and he'll usually look the part on air, with an assortment of Islander blue suits and ties. He prefers to keep it casual outside of work though, favoring jeans, open shirts with tees underneath and a dark toque (woolen cap). He does wear a pair of dogtags, in honor of his neighbor and childhood friend.
H A B I T S- Will occasionally lose his train of thought, as a by-product of one too many hits on the ice.
- Is prone to rants, which is what makes him an attractive on-air personality.
- Still eats like he's an active athlete, so a lot of food, more than he probably needs.
H O B B I E S- Working out
- Watching hockey, both live and on TV
- Karaoke
L I K E S- New York Islanders hockey
- Molson Canadian beer
- Soccer
- Alternative Rock of the 2000s
- Video games
D I S L I K E S - New York Rangers hockey
- Poodles
- Bryan Adams
- Coffee
- Very long sliences
F E A R SP E R S O N A L I T YGrowing up in the rural part of Newfoundland has given Kieran an appreciation for taking things slow, but in the end it wasn't really for him. He likes the ability to do any number of things in one day, which was only possible after a long car ride back home. He likes to be out with people, doing things. He had enough hanging out alone back home.
Kieran has always been an easygoing person. Growing up constantly surrounded by a team atmosphere, he was usually the calm presence among his fellow athletes. On the ice, he played as ferociously as anyone. He earned his nickname in his freshman season with Bentley after taking down junior enforcer J.P. Smolinski of Robert Morris in his first ever Atlantic Hockey scrap. He will fight for his team tooth and nail, he's that loyal once on board.
Since the end of his first career, it's been a tough adjustment for Kieran, but he's managed. His creative side has become more prominent now that he's trying to use it to make a name for himself. Sometimes he can be hard on himself, his vocabulary seemingly lacking behind other writers at his level, his quotes crisper. However, he's going to keep fighting and working at it. No other way to do it in his eyes.
H I S T O R YThe kid was as Canadian as a Tim Horton's donut covered in maple syrup. It was clear from an early age. From the second Patrick and Maryse O'Connor brought their youngest to Harbour Grace Arena for his first skate, Kieran showed he had a natural talent for gliding along the ice. As such, his parents invested all their spare cash in letting their blond-haired boy pursue his dream of following Danny Cleary from the island to the NHL.
Kieran was good. By the time he was eligible for the QMJHL entry draft, he was far and away the best player in Harbour Grace. However in a town of 3,000, that doesn't amount to much in the big scheme of things. He was picked in the 12th round by Charlottetown, attended one training camp and was cut soon after. Discouraged, he kept plugging away on the Rock, hoping to get noticed by someone, until late in his senior year at high school, he was offered a scholarship to Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. NCAA Hockey was in the cards.
He was unknown to most of his teammates until the fight against Smolinski earned his moniker. He plugged away at Bentley, making the All-Atlantic team in his final season as he earned a Communications degree. This caught the eye of the New York Islanders, who signed him to an entry league deal and sent him to the third-tier ECHL team in Independence, Missouri. However, tragedy struck in his fourth game with the Mavericks as he was driven head-first into the boards by Idaho's Andrew Carroll. He felt all right, but a CAT scan a couple days later showed a problem with his C1 vertabrae. The doctors told Kieran the hit should have paralyzed him, and next time he likely wouldn't be as lucky. Devastated, Kieran announced his retirement that October.
The Islanders organization was shocked, but looked after the newly-retired prospect. They offered him a job with the website, writing articles on the team, and Kieran did well for the season he was there, but his contract wasn't renewed. He stayed in Brooklyn though, picking up local writing jobs in Brooklyn in the hopes that eventually he would land something more stable and lucrative, possibly with a network. It's not the dream he started with but it's one he hopes is more achievable, lest he had back to Newfoundland with nothing to show for all those youth trophies he obtained.
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