Ray Kinasewich

Roman "Ray" Kinasewich (September 12, 1933 – August 30, 2021) was a Canadian ice hockey player and coach. He was the head coach of the Edmonton Oil Kings team that won the 1966 Memorial Cup and he was the first coach for the Edmonton Oilers in the inaugural 1972–73 season of the World Hockey Association (WHA).

Playing career Kinasewich played minor professional hockey from 1953 to 1965, with teams in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and American Hockey League (AHL).

He started with the Edmonton Flyers of the WHL before spending two seasons (1956–58) with the Seattle Americans. These would be the two most productive seasons of his career. Playing right wing on a line with Guyle Fielder and Val Fonteyne, he scored 44 goals in 1956–57 and 42 goals in 1957–58, leading the Americans in goal scoring for both seasons. Kinasewich returned to the Flyers for one season before playing for the Hershey Bears of the AHL from 1959–62. The final three years of his playing career were spent playing for Edmonton (for a third time), for the Cleveland Barons (AHL), and for the Seattle Totems (WHL) before retiring in 1965.

Kinasewich turned to coaching for the next season. He led the Edmonton Oil Kings to their second Memorial Cup victory in 1966. He also spent time with the Houston Apollos and was the first coach of the Salt Lake Golden Eagles in 1969–70, but is best known as the first coach of the Edmonton Oilers in the first season of the WHA.

He was hired by Oilers owner Bill Hunter, who had also been the owner of the Oil Kings when Kinasewich coached for them. However, Hunter was dissatisfied with the Oilers' 20–23–2 record to start the 1972–73 WHA season, and he replaced Kinasewich with himself as head coach.

Career statistics

Coaching statistics WHA Team Year Regular season Postseason G W L T Pts Finish ResultAlberta Oilers1972–737838373795th in WHA WestLost in preliminary round

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