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
Kaminski with the Fresno Monsters in 2018
Born (1969-03-13) March 13, 1969 (age 55)
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

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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

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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

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Regular season and playoffs

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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

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  1. ^ "Ice Dogs Elect Not to Renew Kaminski's Contract". OurSports Central. April 13, 2004.
  2. ^ "Louisiana Drillers make coaching change". NA3HL. October 6, 2016.
  3. ^ "Former Washington Capitals Kevin "Killer" Kaminski named as new Head Coach". Fresno Monsters. October 26, 2016.
  4. ^ "Ice Wolves Hire New Management & Coaching Staff". La Ronge Ice Wolves. April 8, 2019.
  5. ^ "RiverKings' Kaminski named CHL coach of year". DeSoto Times-Tribune. March 20, 2009.
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