A few minutes with...Kevin Kaminsky

The Mississippi RiverKings head coach talks about his new position, recruiting and the Texas Brahmas

Kevin Kaminsky was named head coach of the Mississippi RiverKings on July 2nd. Kaminski, 39, won a combined 73 regular-season games during the past two years with the Youngstown SteelHounds. He went 73-40-15 and advanced to the playoffs over the past two seasons he coached there.

When the SteelHounds were expelled from the Central Hockey League this past summer, Kaminsky found himself without a job for the 2008-09 season.

“Jobs are very scarce,” Kaminsky told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “Things in Youngstown were very, very good. (SteelHounds owner) Herb Washington treated me and my family unbelievably. Unfortunately, things kind of turned and here was an opportunity to stay in the CHL…I look forward to bringing a tradition that's demanding with the work ethic, demanding to get better as a person and as a hockey player each and every day," he said, "but also come to the rink with a great attitude and to have some fun. That's what I want to bring to Mississippi."

For Kaminski, a native of Churchbridge, Saskatchewan, this is his sixth season behind the bench. Kaminski was an assistant coach for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (AHL) from 2000-02, and he later coached the Long Beach Ice Dogs (ECHL) and the Missouri River Otters (UHL).

I spoke to Coach Kaminsky just before the Texas Brahmas home opener on October 18th.

Q: How has everything been with the RiverKings ownership group; are they giving you everything you need to build a winning program?

A: Everything's been good so far. We've got a salary cap and we have to be within it. I feel we've got our core veterans and we've got some very good young rookies to try and get that right chemistry, the right mixture to be successful. Everything's great. The ownership's been great to me and my family and we're excited to be there.

Q: There was a glut of players that headed to Europe during the off-season, including Ryan Campbell. Did you have any difficulty recruiting for the team this year versus last year?

A: We got three guys signed that were from last year. Obviously, I brought a handful of guys from Youngstown. I guess it would've been nice to get the job a little bit earlier and go after Ryan Held and Campbell. I think those were a couple of key guys that really had career years last year. I don't know how much negotiations there were between Mississippi and those two players. But they're overseas so what do you do? You work all your angles that you know; you're on the computer, you're on the phone working your connections. You know, I feel like we've got a pretty solid group here, like I said, with the veterans, the guys who've been around a few years and some of the rookies that have made the team. We look forward to having a good year, a very successful outcome and hopefully do some damage in the playoffs.

Q: Last season, the RiverKings had a three-game series against the Brahmas and we all know how that ended. How do you feel about your guys playing against the Brahmas this season?

A: Dan Wildfong puts together a good group. His team competes. He's molded it probably to his style of play. He's got two very solid goaltenders and some good D and forward-wise, leadership with Lance Galbraith. I think they've got some guys coming in yet, so you know it's a work in progress all the time but we expect to have our hands full for 60 minutes. We're going to try to be our road warriors ourselves and try and steal two points out of here.

Q: You've coached here before with Youngstown. How is it coming from a larger facility to a smaller venue like NYTEX to play, given the loudness of the crowd and the closeness and everything like that? Do you think that puts the spook on your players versus having a larger arena to play in?

A: Well obviously you've got to adjust quick. It does seem like a little smaller building but the game's played the same. You've got to execute your systems; you've got to execute the passing. Every game is played the same, so whoever works hard and crashes the net and gets to loose pucks; whoever wins the one-on-one battles throughout the night is usually going to win. But coming in here, it's a cold rink. I'll tell you that (laughing). One of the coldest in the league. It's hockey. It is what it is and our job here is to come in and take the two points and get back home to Mississippi.

The Brahmas won the home opener against Mississippi 4-2, giving both teams a 1-1-0 start to their seasons. The two teams will meet four more times this season at Mississippi for a two-game series on December 12-13 and on January 10th and then back at NYTEX on January 30th.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith