Roman "Ray" Kinasewich (September 12, 1933 – August 30, 2021) was a Canadian

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 was the head coach of 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. ...

team that won the

1966 Memorial Cup The 1966 Memorial Cup was the 48th annual Memorial Cup competition, organized by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) to determine the champion of "junior A" ice hockey. The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions Oshawa Generals of ...

and he was the first coach for the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

in the inaugural 1972–73 season of the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

(WHA).

Playing career

Kinasewich played minor professional hockey from 1953 to 1965, with teams in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

(WHL) and

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 ...

(AHL). He started with the

Edmonton Flyers The Edmonton Flyers are a defunct ice hockey team that was based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The team existed from 1940 until 1963. The Flyers played in the Edmonton Gardens. The Flyers were nominated by W. G. Hardy to represent Canada at the ...

of the WHL before spending two seasons (1956–58) with the

Seattle Americans The Seattle Totems were a professional ice hockey franchise in Seattle, Washington. Under several names prior to 1958, the franchise was a member of the Pacific Coast Hockey League (renamed the Western Hockey League in 1952) between 1944 and 19 ...

. These would be the two most productive seasons of his career. Playing

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authori ...

on a line with

Guyle Fielder Guyle Abner Fielder (born November 21, 1930) is a retired American-born Canadian professional ice hockey center. He is most known for his time in the minor Western Hockey League, where he played from 1952 to 1973. Fielder also played 9 regular se ...

and

Val Fonteyne Valere Ronald Fonteyne (born December 2, 1933) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1959 to 1972, serving the Detroit Red Wings (on two tours of duty), New York Rangers and Pi ...

, 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 The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...

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 The name Cleveland Barons has been used by three professional hockey teams and one junior team. *Cleveland Barons (NHL), the National Hockey League team that played between 1976 and 1978 *Cleveland Barons (1937–1973), the original American Hockey ...

(AHL), and for the

Seattle Totems The Seattle Totems were a professional ice hockey franchise in Seattle, Washington. Under several names prior to 1958, the franchise was a member of the Pacific Coast Hockey League (renamed the Western Hockey League in 1952) between 1944 and 19 ...

(WHL) before retiring in 1965. Kinasewich turned to coaching for the next season. He led the Edmonton Oil Kings to their second

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

victory in 1966. He also spent time with the

Houston Apollos The Houston Apollos were a minor professional ice hockey team based in Houston, Texas. They played in the Central Hockey League from 1965 to 1969, and then from 1979 to 1981. From 1965 to 1969, they were a farm team of the NHL's Montreal Canadie ...

and was the first coach of the

Salt Lake Golden Eagles The Salt Lake Golden Eagles were a minor professional hockey team based in Salt Lake City from 1969 to 1994. History They played in the Western Hockey League from 1969 to 1974, the Central Hockey League from 1974 to 1984 and the International H ...

in 1969–70, but is best known as the first coach of the

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 The 1972–73 WHA season was the List of WHA seasons, first season of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Twelve teams played 78 games each. The league was officially incorporated in June of 1971 in sports, 1971 by Gary Davidson and Dennis Murphy ...

, and he replaced Kinasewich with himself as head coach.

Career statistics

                                            --- Regular Season ---  ---- Playoffs ----
Season   Team                        Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM  GP   G   A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1950-51  Calgary Buffaloes           WCJHL   0    0    0    0    0  --  --  --  --  --
1951-52  Calgary Buffaloes           WCJHL  44   20   23   43   48  --  --  --  --  --
1953-54  Edmonton Flyers             WHL     1    0    0    0    0  --  --  --  --  --
1953-54  Edmonton Oil Kings          WCJHL   0    0    0    0    0  --  --  --  --  --
1954-55  Edmonton Flyers             WHL     3    0    1    1    0  --  --  --  --  --
1954-55  Nelson Maple Leafs          WIHL   39   28   40   68   64  --  --  --  --  --
1955-56  Edmonton Flyers             WHL    68   16   17   33   41   3   0   0   0   4
1956-57  Seattle Americans           WHL    70   44   38   82   62   6   1   2   3  17
1957-58  Seattle Americans           WHL    70   42   26   68   40   9   5   5  10  10
1958-59  Edmonton Flyers             WHL    63   15   32   47   40   3   0   0   0   2
1959-60  Hershey Bears               AHL    72   24   28   52   20  --  --  --  --  --
1960-61  Hershey Bears               AHL    67   31   24   55   34   8   4   4   8   0
1961-62  Hershey Bears               AHL    69   10   25   35   34   7   2   1   3   0
1962-63  Edmonton Flyers             WHL    68   25   32   57   24   3   0   2   2   0
1963-64  Cleveland Barons            AHL    72   28   30   58   46   9   5   8  13  10
1964-65  Seattle Totems              WHL    61   10   25   35   26   7   1   0   1   6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coaching statistics

WHA

Other leagues

Season  Team                    Lge  Type       GP  W  L  T OTL   Pct 
1967-68 Houston Apollos         CPHL Head Coach 70 28 31 11   0 0.479  
1969-70 Salt Lake Golden Eagles WHL  Head Coach 72 15 43 14   0 0.306

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinasewich, Ray 1933 births 2021 deaths Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey right wingers Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) players Edmonton Oilers coaches Edmonton Flyers (WHL) players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from Alberta People from Smoky Lake County Seattle Americans players World Hockey Association coaches

Playing career

Career statistics

Coaching statistics

WHA

Other leagues

See also

References