Max Kaminsky (April 19, 1912 – May 5, 1961) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player and coach. He played four seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, followed by nine seasons in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

where he won two

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its curr ...

championships. He later coached the

Pittsburgh Hornets The Pittsburgh Hornets were a minor-league professional men's ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Contrary to popular belief, the Pittsburgh Hornets did not evolve from the International Hockey League's Pittsburgh Shamrocks. The ...

and

Philadelphia Rockets The Philadelphia Rockets were a minor professional ice hockey team based in the Philadelphia Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Rockets played for three seasons in American Hockey League from 1946 to 1949. Previously another Rockets team exi ...

, then led the St. Catharines Teepees to the

1960 Memorial Cup The 1960 Memorial Cup final was the 42nd junior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions St. Catharines Teepees of the Ontario Hockey Association in Eastern Canada competed ...

championship. The

Max Kaminsky Trophy The Max Kaminsky Trophy is awarded annually by the Ontario Hockey League to the most outstanding defenceman. The award is named in honour of Max Kaminsky, who coached the St. Catharines Teepees to the Memorial Cup in 1960 and died shortly thereaf ...

was established by the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

in his honour in 1961, and he was posthumously inducted into the Niagara Falls Sports Wall of Fame in 1992.

Early life

Max Kaminsky was born April 19, 1912, in

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the 2016 census. It is part of the St. Catharines - Niagara Census M ...

, to parents Harry Kaminsky and Toby Tabacznokov. The family name was spelled Kamensky before his parents immigrated to Canada from Russia. Kaminsky's father worked as a tailor in Canada. Both of his parents had

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

heritage. Kaminsky played

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...

in Niagara Falls. He later played on Niagara Falls Cataracts teams which won an

junior championship in the 1930–31 season, and a senior championship in the 1932–33 season. He also played baseball in Niagara Falls, and was scouted by several

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

teams.

Playing career

Kaminsky played the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

position, and was listed as and . In 1933, he was one of four players from the Cataracts to be signed by the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

in the

(NHL). He an

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

in his first NHL game. He subsequently played in the NHL for the

St. Louis Eagles The St. Louis Eagles were a professional ice hockey team that played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Based in St. Louis, the Eagles played for only one year, the 1934–35 NHL season. The team was founded in 1883 as the Ottawa Senators, a s ...

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

, and

Montreal Maroons The Montreal Maroons (officially the Montreal Professional Hockey Club) were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). They played in the NHL from 1924 to 1938, winning the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935. They were the la ...

. Kaminsky later played in the

(AHL). During the

1939–40 AHL season The 1939–40 AHL season was the fourth season of the International-American Hockey League, known in the present day as the American Hockey League. The league consisted of nine teams total. Four teams in the Eastern Division played a 54 game seas ...

, he scored 11

goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

and 29 assists, and was named a second team AHL all-star. He later won two

championships in the

playing for the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

. He was later the

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of the

. In Pittsburgh, he received the Dapper Dan Award as the city's outstanding sports person.

Coaching career

Kaminsky coached the

for three seasons, then coached the Niagara Falls Cataracts in the

senior ice hockey Senior hockey refers to amateur or semi-professional ice hockey competition. There are no age restrictions for Senior players, who typically consist of those whose Junior eligibility has expired. Senior hockey leagues operate under the jurisdict ...

B-division of the

for the 1955–56 season. After three seasons away from hockey, he coached the St. Catharines Teepees during the 1959–60 season. During the 1960 playoffs for the

George Richardson Memorial Trophy The George Richardson Memorial Trophy was presented annually from 1932 until 1971, by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. It represented the Eastern Canada junior hockey championship, and a berth in the Memorial Cup final versus the Abbott ...

versus the

Montreal Junior Canadiens The Montreal Junior Canadiens were a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Junior Hockey League from 1933 to 1961, and the Ontario Hockey Association from 1961 to 1972. They played out of the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. History The ...

, he suffered from

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

and was relieved on the bench on two occasions. He returned and led the Teepees to the

championship versus the

Edmonton Oil Kings The Edmonton Oil Kings are a major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that play in the Western Hockey League. As of July 2008, they are owned by Daryl Katz's Oilers Entertainment Group, which also owns the Edmonton Oilers. ...

Personal life

Kaminsky played amateur baseball during the summer, and coached youth teams in the Niagara Falls Baseball Association leagues. He played with Niagara Falls Brights seniors from 1938 to 1941, won four Niagara District championships, and

Ontario Baseball Association Baseball Ontario, officially known as the Ontario Baseball Association (OBA), is the provincial governing body for baseball in Ontario. The Ontario Baseball Association was founded under the name "Ontario Baseball Amateur Association" which w ...

titles in 1940 and 1941. He was also a player coach of the 1942 Niagara Falls senior team, and later played and coached in

Welland Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-o ...

, Ontario. Kaminsky was married and had three children. He lived the final 12 years of his life in

Niagara Falls, New York Niagara Falls is a City (New York), city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara ...

, where he operated a restaurant. He resigned from coaching less than one month after winning the Memorial Cup, due to health issues. He died from cancer on May 5, 1961, at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

Honours and legacy

The

was established by the Ontario Hockey Association in his honour in 1961, awarded to the most gentlemanly player in the junior-A series. Since 1969, the trophy was awarded to the most outstanding defenceman in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

. Kaminsky was posthumously inducted into the Niagara Falls Sports Wall of Fame in 1992.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Source:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaminsky, Max 1912 births 1961 deaths 20th-century Canadian Jews Boston Bruins players Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian baseball players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Ice hockey people from Ontario Ice hockey player-coaches Jewish Canadian sportspeople Jewish ice hockey players Montreal Maroons players New Haven Eagles players Ontario Hockey League coaches Ottawa Senators (1917) players Pittsburgh Hornets players Providence Reds players St. Louis Eagles players Sportspeople from Niagara Falls, Ontario Springfield Indians players