Kings Fire Hiller

[VCRW]

No idea what comes next but this move had to be made. The timing didn’t matter.
I liked Hiller. I hoped he would do well. But this team did not play well and the Coach gets the blame. A story as old as time.

I don’t think we should place this all on Hiller though. These players have gotten two coaches and a GM fired. That’s where the ultimate responsibility lies. Not to absolve Hiller. This team has been underperforming all season. The coach is accountable when that’s the case.

I do like Greene being part of this interim group. His history shows that he clearly was a very valuable part of the organization and the Cups.

This current team core has definitely had a rough run with coaches. But Kopi and Drew have already been part of quitting on 4 coaches. 4! Murray, Sutter, Stevens, and McClellan. Would this now make 5?

 

[What party?]

I do this whole no screens on Sunday and had to wait for a disturbance in the force to alert me, it was as if a million fingers typing in terror were suddenly silenced. I feel something wonderful has happened.

Too high to process this information, using star wars quotes as cheap laugh/crutch. Totally hacky, and I love it.

We hired a DJ to celebrate--er--replace him? Neat.

 

[Pevsfreedom]

More exciting is bringing Matt Greene back to the family. His strength, character and judgement were a huge part of the Cup years. Welcome home, Matt! He will bring a much needed voice behind the scenes.

This is actually interesting news. Light a fire under they asses.

 

[santiclaws]

I do this whole no screens on Sunday

Spending all day in church, eh?

 

[orpheus]

If Blake was still here, he would have made this move sooner. He would have given the new coach a 5 year contract before he proved himself, but that is besides the point.

 

[jammer06]

So how long before the PR team is in Full Kopi passing Dionne is better than the playoffs mode?

 

[Dr. Tran]

I think before they decide on a permanent head coach they need to figure out what direction they’re going in after this season. So they have enough to compete with this roster plus a few trades / signings? Or do they need some kind of rebuild. Personally I think the latter but not necessarily a total teardown & 4-5 year tank. The right draft / trades could get us back in contention.

More importantly, someone above Luc needs to evaluate him & Holland to see if they’re worthy of staying on. Is there anyone between Luc & Beckerman? I don’t know. Anyway once those questions are answered then the coach question is easier to figure out.

 

[Ice Rhino]

This has been a long time in coming. This whole season, in fact. As many have stated Hiller should have been let go after his absolute failure against Edmonton in the playoffs. It's not often you can say that a playoff loss is wholly on the coach, but I feel comfortable saying last year was...

Now, am I confident that Holland is going to get this team back in contention? Nope. Not at all. I'll admit I've been surprised with Perry's performance so far this year, but overall Holland's moves (with the exception of our recent NY steal) have been overpaid and under performing.

Until we drop Luc and get a modern GM we'll continue to see the coaching carousel. This team isn't good enough to keep any coach for a length of time.

 

[Moog]

That’s awesome!!!

Now do Luc!

Clean em all out!
Fire sale the entire front office!!
Do it Danny B!!!!

 

[ICE24]

I have to admit LGK is a big influence on the Kings organization. I’m not sure if it’s our expert analysis or our wisdom that leads the way.

 

[admorrow]

Hiller had to go but replacing him with Smith id s joke. His defemse is pretty much last in the legur. Holland messed up on this decision. He should have been doing his homework and had the permanent replacement in mind, then fire Hiller and place the coach that will leading the team for years in place. Broduer, Gallant, Laviolet, Tortorlla, are avalable and there are some very good up and coming coaches in the pipeline that could take this team to the next level. Kings under Luc and Holland are in bad shape.

Firing Hiller was the thing they should have done at the end of last season. This season isn't worth saving, so no need to rush to hire a replacement. They did the overdue business, let's not rush the rest.

 

[dannybuoy1]

This current team core has definitely had a rough run with coaches. But Kopi and Drew have already been part of quitting on 4 coaches. 4! Murray, Sutter, Stevens, and McClellan. Would this now make 5?

After they fired Stevens, the Kings offered Vignault a contract right before Todd. But Vignault wanted more money which the Kings would not give. I always wondered what he would do with this team.

 

[Bollocks]

This current team core has definitely had a rough run with coaches. But Kopi and Drew have already been part of quitting on 4 coaches. 4! Murray, Sutter, Stevens, and McClellan. Would this now make 5?

But this current team core is very old. That means they're bound to go through a lot of HCs.

This is what our lord and savior AI has to say on this topic:

"Historical Trends

NHL coaching tenures peaked at 3.25 years in the 2012-13 season but have mostly hovered around 2.5 years since, with lows like 2.06 years in 2017-18. Recent data through the 2024-25 season confirms 2.3 years as the norm, shorter than MLB (4.3 years), NBA (4.1 years), or NFL (4.0 years)."

Kopitar saw Crawford, Sutter, Stevens, McClellan and Hiller as his "proper, full time" (non-interim) coaches, and DD one more if he stays with the Kings for the next season. They're both actually "below par" as to expected average "life span" of a coach.

Among currently active head coaches, the longest standing are Brind-Amour (8 years), Bednar (10 years) and Cooper (13 years). Couple years before them Sullivan had a 10-year tenure. The common denominator of these coaches is that the teams they have at their disposal were simply built better and managed to stay competitive due to smart roster moves, and these coaches were/are able to adapt bettern than what the Kings had. Sutter was great for that Cup push era to get the most out of a well built team, but his method seems to have waned and Lombardi failed to maintain the team in a way to win with Sutter as the coach.

NHL Head Coaches — Tenure with Current Team (as of Mar 2 2026)​

Team	Head Coach	Hired	Tenure (approx)
Tampa Bay Lightning	Jon Cooper	Mar 25, 2013	13 y, 11 m
Colorado Avalanche	Jared Bednar	Aug 25, 2016	9 y, 6 m
Carolina Hurricanes	Rod Brind’Amour	May 8, 2018	7 y, 10 m
Montreal Canadiens	Martin St. Louis	Feb 9, 2022	4 y, 0 m
Utah Hockey Club	André Tourigny	Jul 1, 2021	4 y, 8 m
Buffalo Sabres	Lindy Ruff	Apr 22, 2024	1 y, 11 m
Columbus Blue Jackets	Dean Evason	Jul 22, 2024	1 y, 7 m
New Jersey Devils	Sheldon Keefe	May 23, 2024	1 y, 9 m
Ottawa Senators	Travis Green	May 7, 2024	1 y, 10 m
Winnipeg Jets	Scott Arniel	May 24, 2024	1 y, 9 m
Anaheim Ducks	Joel Quenneville	May 8, 2025	0 y, 9 m
Boston Bruins	Marco Sturm	Jun 5, 2025	0 y, 9 m
Chicago Blackhawks	Jeff Blashill	May 22, 2025	0 y, 9 m
Dallas Stars	Glen Gulutzan	Jul 1, 2025	0 y, 8 m
New York Rangers	Mike Sullivan	May 2, 2025	0 y, 9 m
Philadelphia Flyers	Rick Tocchet	May 14, 2025	0 y, 9 m
Seattle Kraken	Lane Lambert	May 29, 2025	0 y, 8 m
Vancouver Canucks	Adam Foote	May 14, 2025	0 y, 9 m
Edmonton Oilers	Kris Knoblauch	Nov 12, 2023	2 y, 3 m
Minnesota Wild	John Hynes	Nov 27, 2023	2 y, 3 m
Calgary Flames	Ryan Huska	Jun 12, 2023	2 y, 9 m
Nashville Predators	Andrew Brunette	May 31, 2023	2 y, 9 m
New York Islanders	Patrick Roy	Jan 20, 2024	2 y, 1 m
Pittsburgh Penguins	Dan Muse	Jun 4, 2025	0 y, 9 m
St. Louis Blues	Jim Montgomery	Nov 24, 2025	0 y, 3 m
Toronto Maple Leafs	Craig Berube	May 17, 2024	1 y, 9 m
Florida Panthers	Paul Maurice	Jun 22, 2022	3 y, 8 m
Detroit Red Wings	Todd McLellan	Dec 26, 2024	1 y, 2 m
Los Angeles Kings	Jim Hiller (fired Mar 1)	Feb 2, 2024	2 y, 1 m

 

[Pevsfreedom]

I have to admit LGK is a big influence on the Kings organization. I’m not sure if it’s our expert analysis or our wisdom that leads the way.

Both?

 

[Madness20721]

Hiller should have been fired after last season, but Blake proved he doesn't make the smartest decisions. This season's roster is a mess, so bringing in DJ isn’t going to change anything. I am hoping Holland can do some good things in the off season with some money coming off the books. Also hope he can convince a really experienced and (more) successful head coach to take a chance. He also needs to figure out how to convince FAs to come to LA or get players to waive their NTC to come to LA. It's a hard sell because everyone can see what a toxic environment this Kings organization is. Who would in their right mind would come to LA willingly?

 

[VCRW]

But this current team core is very old. That means they're bound to go through a lot of HCs.

The current team core has quit on 2 coaches. Kopi and Drew have their own history as I pointed out.

 

[What party?]

Spending all day in church, eh?

****

I have to admit LGK is a big influence on the Kings organization. I’m not sure if it’s our expert analysis or our wisdom that leads the way.

Hmmm, may be ruining the curve, I've been skating on my looks this whole time.

 

[jammer06]

The current team core has quit on 2 coaches. Kopi and Drew have their own history as I pointed out.

its simply not unusual is the point, what's unusual is Tampa's longevity with Cooper or even Pittsburgh's with Sullivan. Todds run with the kings and Sutters run were both long by modern NHL standards. Whats also unusual is having a 20 year run with one team. The cap era is only 20 years old so it's hard to generate historical norms out of that. I will concede it would be best if there was one coach and core players supported them for a decade plus, but the idea that it's a norm is a fiction.

 

[Statue4Deano]

Of course it fixes something. It may not fix everything but it fixes the biggest problem. We need to stop thinking that every solution has to solve every problem. Fix what you can now & solve the rest later.

Removing the head coach doesn’t fix anything. It just removes him from the equation. That’s not a fix. That doesn’t solve the problem. It just adds another variable.

It was a necessary change but change for the sake of change is not a fix. Luc has a long history of coaching changes under his watch that speak exactly to that point. Hiller should’ve been removed before the start of this season but again we have incompetent people in charge of the franchise.

 

[What party?]

Removing the head coach doesn’t fix anything. It just removes him from the equation. That’s not a fix. That doesn’t solve the problem. It just adds another variable.

It was a necessary change but change for the sake of change is not a fix. Luc has a long history of coaching changes under his watch that speak exactly to that point. Hiller should’ve been removed before the start of this season but again we have incompetent people in charge of the franchise.

Oof, Dean-o, it's been one day and you were pro-firing. Perhaps we (read: me-or us...depending how you feel) could enjoy it for like a week or two games (whichever is greater)? My reason: I have like 8 maybe 10 jokes about the coach being a DJ before it goes stale.

Top one: Dj coachy-coach.