Kevin Kaminski
Kevin Kaminski (born March 13, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played 139 games in the National Hockey League with the Minnesota North Stars, Quebec Nordiques, and Washington Capitals between 1988 and 1997. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1998 to 2000, was spent in the minor leagues, where his role was an enforcer. He is currently the head coach of the La Ronge Ice Wolves of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
| Kevin Kaminski | |||
|---|---|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg.webp) Kaminski with the Fresno Monsters in 2018 | |||
| Born |
March 13, 1969 Churchbridge, Saskatchewan, Canada | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
Minnesota North Stars Quebec Nordiques Washington Capitals | ||
| NHL Draft |
48th overall, 1987 Minnesota North Stars | ||
| Playing career | 1988–2000 | ||
Playing career
Selected in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota North Stars, Kaminski played one game for the North Stars before he was traded to the Quebec Nordiques in exchange for Gaetan Duchesne. After spending several years in the Nordiques organization, principally for their Halifax Citadels AHL team, he was traded to the Washington Capitals prior to the 1993–94 NHL season.
During his four seasons with the Capitals, his hard-nosed style of play would make him a fan favorite, as he would not hesitate to fight players much bigger than he was. He would play three more seasons in the minors for the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League before retiring in 1999.
Although Kaminski played only 286 games in the AHL, less than four full seasons' worth, he stands in the top 50 in all-time career penalty minutes for the league.
Coaching career
After retiring from playing, Kaminski moved on to coaching starting as an assistant with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks in 2000. He got his first head coaching position in 2002 with the Long Beach Ice Dogs in the West Coast Hockey League where he stayed for two seasons before being released.[1] He has since coached for the Missouri River Otters (UHL), Youngstown SteelHounds (CHL), Mississippi RiverKings (CHL), Louisiana IceGators (SPHL), and the Louisiana Drillers (NA3HL).[2] In October 2016, he took the head coaching position with the Fresno Monsters of the Western States Hockey League, a Tier II junior team.[3] After three seasons in Fresno, he returned to Saskatchewan and the head coaching position with the La Ronge Ice Wolves.[4]
Kaminski won the CHL's coach of the year award with the Mississippi RiverKings in the 2008–09 season.[5]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1984–85 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1985–86 | Saskatoon Blazers U18 | SMAAAHL | 32 | 39 | 64 | 103 | 106 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1985–86 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 35 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 1986–87 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 67 | 26 | 44 | 70 | 325 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 45 | ||
| 1987–88 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 55 | 38 | 61 | 99 | 247 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 37 | ||
| 1988–89 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 52 | 25 | 43 | 68 | 199 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 25 | ||
| 1988–89 | Saskatoon Blades | M-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 9 | ||
| 1989–90 | Quebec Nordiques | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | Halifax Citadels | AHL | 19 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 128 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 1990–91 | Halifax Citadels | AHL | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Fort Wayne Komets | IHL | 56 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 455 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 169 | ||
| 1991–92 | Quebec Nordiques | NHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Halifax Citadels | AHL | 63 | 18 | 27 | 45 | 329 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Halifax Citadels | AHL | 79 | 27 | 37 | 64 | 345 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 13 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 87 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Portland Pirates | AHL | 39 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 263 | 16 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 91 | ||
| 1994–95 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 27 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 102 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | ||
| 1994–95 | Portland Pirates | AHL | 34 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 292 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 54 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 164 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | ||
| 1996–97 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 38 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 130 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Portland Pirates | AHL | 40 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 242 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 69 | ||
| 1998–99 | Las Vegas Thunder | IHL | 39 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 217 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Orlando Solar Bears | IHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| AHL totals | 286 | 82 | 124 | 206 | 1660 | 26 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 165 | ||||
| NHL totals | 139 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 528 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 | ||||
References
- "Ice Dogs Elect Not to Renew Kaminski's Contract". OurSports Central. April 13, 2004.
- "Louisiana Drillers make coaching change". NA3HL. October 6, 2016.
- "Former Washington Capitals Kevin "Killer" Kaminski named as new Head Coach". Fresno Monsters. October 26, 2016.
- "Ice Wolves Hire New Management & Coaching Staff". La Ronge Ice Wolves. April 8, 2019.
- "RiverKings' Kaminski named CHL coach of year". DeSoto Times-Tribune. March 20, 2009.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database