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.

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. Former ice hockey player and writer Ken Dryden wrote about Kaminski's efforts to become a professional hockey player in his book Home Game: Hockey and Life in Canada (1990) (which was co-authored with Roy MacGregor) which was televised on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1990 as "Home Game: Episode 5, The Common Passion". 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 made him a fan favorite, as he would not hesitate to fight players much bigger than he was. He played 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. He has since coached for the Missouri River Otters (UHL), Youngstown SteelHounds (CHL), Mississippi RiverKings (CHL), Louisiana IceGators (SPHL), and the Louisiana Drillers (NA3HL). In October 2016, he took the head coaching position with the Fresno Monsters of the Western States Hockey League, a Tier II junior team. After three seasons in Fresno, he returned to Saskatchewan and the head coaching position with the La Ronge Ice Wolves.

Kaminski won the CHL's coach of the year award with the Mississippi RiverKings in the 2008–09 season.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs 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