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Why Maple Leafs hired Jim Hiller in surprising NHL head coaching decision originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The new Toronto Maple Leafs regime has found its new head coach.
The organization has hired former Los Angeles Kings head coach Jim Hiller to lead the team moving forward. Hiller is a former Maple Leafs assistant who has just 2.5 years of head coaching experience in the NHL, but did make the playoffs twice in that span.
Toronto's search for a new head coach included many big names as candidates, including Patrick Roy and Peter Laviolette. In the end, the Maple Leafs went with a lesser name who has connections with the team from a decade ago.
Here's what to know about the Maple Leafs' decision.
MORE: Why Maple Leafs traded Joseph Woll
Who is Jim Hiller?
Hiller is a hockey coach who recently led the Kings in his first head coaching opportunity, leading the Kings for parts of three seasons and making the playoffs in each of his first two. However, Hiller's Kings lost to the Edmonton Oilers each season in the first round, winning just three of 11 games in the playoffs.
Prior to taking the Kings job, Hiller was a longtime hockey assistant. He began his coaching career as a minor league coach but joined the Detroit Red Wings under Mike Babcock in 2014. When Babcock went to the Maple Leafs in 2015, Hiller joined him in Toronto for the next four seasons, and he followed that with three years as a New York Islanders assistant.
This story will be updated
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