LA Kings’ Jim Hiller: 'We’re Going to Spend Some Time Together.'

At his maiden presser as LA Kings head coach, Jim Hiller had some people to thank before focusing on the task at hand.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — On Thursday, Jim Hiller met the media for the first time as LA Kings‘ head coach. Among the media on hand was HockeyRoyalty‘s own Russell Morgan.

Before getting into business, the Kings’ new bench boss kicked off the press conference to express his gratitude for his new position.

“I’d just like to start off thanking Luc [Robitaille] and Rob [Blake] for this opportunity,” Hiller noted. “It’s a big one for me. I’m sure most of you know, I played for the Kings. My first NHL game as a player was for the Kings and talking to Luc about it this morning, to be able to coach your first game for the same team you played for, I don’t know how many people have done that. But it’s pretty special to me, I can promise you that.”

Hiller played 40 games for the Kings in 1992-93, scoring six goals and adding six assists. He was part of a blockbuster trade later in the season that saw he, Sylvain Couturier, and Hall-of-Famer Paul Coffey head to the Detroit Red Wings. Among others, the Kings received Jimmy Carson in return.

Hiller would go on to play 21 games for the Red Wings and another two for the New York Rangers.

The Port Alberni, B.C., native, though, didn’t continue without paying respect to his predecessor, and friend, Todd McLellan.

“Beyond that, I’d like to thank Todd for his daily friendship and mentorship. I’m going to miss that,” Hiller said. “Certainly, we’ll stay in touch. He’s somebody I really came to enjoy not just as a coach, but as a person, so this has been harder on me than maybe it should have been, I guess. So, I thank Todd for bringing me here, originally.”

Then, it was the business at hand.

“But now, here we are and I have the job,” added the 54-year-old. “We’ve got to win some hockey games and we’re going to spend some time together– probably not this many of you at the same time, but we’re going to spend some time together. I’ll do the best I can to give you what I can. As we all know, we can’t give everything because we’ve got things that we’re working on that we’d want the whole entire world to know.”