Jim Hiller

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Jim Hiller
Born (1969-05-15) May 15, 1969 (age 54)
Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Left wing
Shot Right
Played for Los Angeles Kings
Detroit Red Wings
New York Rangers
Rosenheim Star Bulls
Berlin Capitals
HC Milano
Current NHL coach Los Angeles Kings
NHL Draft 207th overall, 1989
Los Angeles Kings
Playing career 1992–2002
Coaching career 2002–present

James Andrew Hiller (born May 13, 1969) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is the interim head coach of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Hiller played 63 games in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers, while spending time in the American Hockey League (AHL) and International Hockey League (IHL). He finished his career playing overseas in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany and Italian Serie A. Upon retiring, Hiller began a coaching career in the junior leagues.

Playing career[edit]

Hiller was born in Port Alberni, British Columbia. After playing Junior A hockey for the Melville Millionaires, major junior in the WHL with the Prince Albert Raiders, Hiller was drafted in the tenth round, 207th overall, by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. Upon being drafted, Hiller began a three-year college hockey career with Northern Michigan University. NMU won the 1991 NCAA title in Hiller's sophomore year. Following an 86-point campaign with Northern Michigan in a 41-game 1991–92 season, his third with the university, he turned pro with the Los Angeles Kings.

During his rookie season, he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings and completed his rookie season in 1992–93 with 20 points in 61 games split between the two teams. The next season, in 1993–94, Hiller became a New York Ranger, but played only two games with the NHL club, spending his tenure with the organization in the minor leagues with Binghamton Rangers of the AHL and Atlanta Knights of the IHL.

After one season with the Canadian National Team, Hiller went overseas to play in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga with the Starbulls Rosenheim in 1996–97. He finished second in league scoring in his third and final campaign with the club in 1998–99 with 67 points in 52 games, two points behind Martin Jiranek of the Nürnberg Ice Tigers. In 1999–00, Hiller began a two-season stint with the Berlin Capitals, after which he spent one final season with HC Milano of the Italian Serie A before retiring.

Coaching career[edit]

After retiring in 2002 from his playing career, Hiller immediately began his coaching career as an assistant coach with the Tri-City Americans of the WHL for two seasons. In 2005–06, he was named head coach of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), where he posted a winning record of 43-12-2. The next season, he was selected to coach the expansion Chilliwack Bruins back in the WHL. He coached the franchise to playoff berths in their first two seasons, but after missing the post-season in his third year with the club, he was fired.[1]

Later in the 2009 off-season, he was named head coach of the Tri-City Americans. In 2010 the Americans reached the WHL Championship Series but lost to the Calgary Hitmen. Hiller received WHL and CHL coach of the year honors for the 2011–12 season.

On July 30, 2014, it was announced Hiller was hired as an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings.[2][3] Part of his duties are to oversee the Red Wings' power play, which ranked 17th in the league the season before his hire.

After spending one season in Detroit, Hiller followed Mike Babcock to the Toronto Maple Leafs. In Toronto, Hiller was an assistant coach with responsibility for the power play.[4]

On June 19, 2019, the New York Islanders announced that Hiller would be joining their coaching staff as an assistant under Barry Trotz.[5] One month after the Islanders fired Trotz and replaced him with Lane Lambert,[6] Hiller was also relieved of his duties on June 9, 2022.[7]

On July 19, 2022, Hiller was hired as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Kings under Todd McLellan.[8] On February 2, 2024, Hiller was named interim head coach following the firing of McLellan.[9]

Career statistics[edit]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1986–87 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 3 0 0 0 12 — — — — —
1987–88 Melville Millionaires SJHL 60 38 49 87 190 — — — — —
1988–89 Melville Millionaires SJHL 29 24 37 61 49 — — — — —
1989–90 Northern Michigan University NCAA 39 23 33 56 52 — — — — —
1990–91 Northern Michigan University NCAA 43 22 41 63 59 — — — — —
1991–92 Northern Michigan University NCAA 41 31 55 86 119 — — — — —
1992–93 Los Angeles Kings NHL 40 6 6 12 90 — — — — —
1992–93 Detroit Red Wings NHL 21 2 6 8 19 2 0 0 0 4
1992–93 Phoenix Roadrunners IHL 3 0 2 2 2 — — — — —
1993–94 New York Rangers NHL 2 0 0 0 7 — — — — —
1993–94 Binghamton Rangers AHL 67 27 34 61 61 — — — — —
1994–95 Binghamton Rangers AHL 49 15 13 28 44 — — — — —
1994–95 Atlanta Knights IHL 17 5 10 15 28 5 0 3 3 8
1996–97 Starbulls Rosenheim DEL 47 22 27 49 187 3 0 1 1 45
1997–98 Starbulls Rosenheim DEL 42 8 19 27 83 — — — — —
1998–99 Starbulls Rosenheim DEL 52 23 44 67 65 — — — — —
1999–00 Berlin Capitals DEL 48 16 16 32 90 6 3 1 4 38
2000–01 Berlin Capitals DEL 48 11 23 34 87 5 2 2 4 14
2001–02 Milano Vipers Italy 38 22 19 41 83 9 4 10 14 0
NHL totals 63 8 12 20 116 2 0 0 0 4


Awards and honours[edit]

Award Year
All-WCHA Second Team 1991–92
AHCA West Second-Team All-American 1991–92
Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award (WHL) 2011–12

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Chilliwack Bruins fire head coach Hiller". Vancouver Sun. March 16, 2009. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2009.
  2. ^ "Detroit Red Wings pick Jim Hiller to fill last assistant coach vacancy". The Detroit Free Press. July 30, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  3. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (July 30, 2014). "Red Wings add Jim Hiller and Andrew Brewer to coaching staff". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  4. ^ "Red Wings assistant coach Jim Hiller implements new ideas, schemes to boost mediocre power play". 4 October 2014.
  5. ^ Gross, Andrew (June 19, 2019). "Islanders name former Maple Leafs assistant Jim Hiller as assistant coach". Newsday. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  6. ^ "Islanders hire Lane Lambert to replace Barry Trotz as head coach".
  7. ^ "Gruden and Hiller Relieved of Assistant Coach Duties". NHL.com. June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  8. ^ "LA Kings Name Jim Hiller Assistant Coach". NHL.com. July 19, 2022. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  9. ^ "McLellan Relieved of Coaching Duties, Hiller Named Interim Head Coach". NHL.com. February 2, 2024. Retrieved February 2, 2024.

External links[edit]

Sporting positions
Preceded by Head coach of the Los Angeles Kings
(interim)
2024–present 		Incumbent
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