Wednesday, March 25, 2009
By Tom Williams
When the Youngstown SteelHounds were evicted from the Central Hockey League last June 2, Coach Kevin Kaminski scrambled into job hunting mode.
It appears he made the right choice to go to Mississippi as Kaminski, who guided the SteelHounds from 2006-08, has been named the CHL’s Coach of the Year.
The Mississippi River Kings (44-17-3, 91 points) won the Northeast Division title. The only team with a better record was the Colorado Eagles (45-15-4, 94).
Tonight, Kaminski’s RiverKings open the CHL playoffs at home against the Oklahoma City Blazers in a best-of-7 series. Unlike the two SteelHounds’ playoff appearances (both against the Eagles), this time Kaminski’s team has home-ice advantage.
“It’s a 2-2-1-1-1,” said Kaminski of the CHL format. “Hopefully, we can take advantage of it. We were 6-3 against ‘Oak City’ this year.”
Under Kaminski, the SteelHounds played in 2-3-2 playoff formats against the Eagles. In 2007, Colorado won a six-game series. In 2008, the SteelHounds were ousted in five games.
With the SteelHounds franchise in limbo nine months ago, Kaminski didn’t waste time. The RiverKings, who are based at the DeSoto Center in Southhaven, Ms. (about 15 miles from Memphis), had an opening when Kevin McClelland took the Colorado coaching position.
“There weren’t a lot of [minor-league] openings,” Kaminski said.
But within a few hours of accepting the RiverKings position, Kaminski was contacted by the CHL’s Corpus Christi Devil Rays.
“It’s been a good situation here,” said Kaminski who remade his roster as the season progressed. “We made some good trades and the guys have bought into the system.”
Kaminski has five former SteelHounds playing for him.
Playing the best is Kevin Beech (35-12-3), who came to the SteelHounds in January 2008 from Laredo and was voted the CHL’s Goaltender of the Year.
Defenseman Jeff Alcombrack, a SteelHound for all three of Youngstown’s seasons in the CHL, has recovered from the concussion he suffered in January 2008 that ended his season.
“He’s been good,” said Kaminski of Alcombrack’s recovery. “He played all 64 games and was one of our top defenseman.”
Alcombrack scored 14 goals and assisted on five others.
Another RiverKings defenseman is Stephen Margeson who spent parts of the past two seasons with the SteelHounds and the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League. Margeson scored 12 goals and 19 assists.
Providing muscle are forward Adam Smyth (10 goals, nine assists) and defender David Simoes (four goals, 11 assists).
“Simoes is a kid who will fight anybody,” Kaminski said. “He’s a very hard-nosed, gritty defenseman.”
Mississippi allowed the second-fewest goals (161) and the fewest shots (26.6 per game).
As the roster was rebuilt, the RiverKings surged down the stretch, going 18-1-2 over the past two months to claim the division title.
“We came on strong,” Kaminski said. “And we were lucky enough to stay pretty healthy all year long.”
Kaminski said the biggest difference from Ohio has been the weather.
“We certainly do miss the people we met in Youngstown,” Kaminski said.
Kaminski was named first on 10 of the 16 ballots submitted by league coaches. He was named on all 16 ballots.
Chris Brooks, Rio Grande Valley’s rookie coach, was second. Also receiving votes were McClelland and Oklahoma City’s Doug Sauter.
williams@vindy.com