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03/01 11:46 CST LA Kings fire coach Jim Hiller and name D.J. Smith as the interim replacement LA Kings fire coach Jim Hiller and name D.J. Smith as the interim replacement By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) --- The Los Angeles Kings fired coach Jim Hiller on Sunday after losing five of their past six games and falling out of playoff position. D.J. Smith was named the interim replacement for the rest of the season in the first coaching change by general manager Ken Holland, who kept Hiller behind the bench when he took over the front office last May. Player development coach Matt Greene is joining Smith's staff as an assistant. "I want to thank Jim Hiller for his dedication, professionalism, and the commitment he showed to our players and our team every day: He is a respected coach and person, and we appreciate the work he's done behind our bench," Holland said. "At this point in the season, we believe a change in leadership is necessary to give our group the best opportunity to reach its potential and compete at the level we expect. These decisions are never made lightly, but our responsibility is to position this team for success now and moving forward." Hiller was in just his second full season in the charge of the Kings, who looked lifeless in an 8-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Fans broke into repeated chants of "Fire Hiller!" while the Oilers poured it on in the second and third periods of Los Angeles' largest defeat of the season by far. One night earlier, Los Angeles allowed five goals in the third period of an embarrassing 6-4 loss to short-handed Vegas in both teams' first game back from the Olympic break. A 2-0 win against Calgary on Saturday was not enough to save Hiller's job. Hiller went 93-58-24 with the Kings and made the playoffs twice, but never won a postseason series. The 56-year-old Hiller was a longtime NHL assistant who got his first chance to lead a team when the Kings promoted him to replace the fired Todd McLellan in February 2024. He righted their season and got the Kings to the playoffs, but they lost in the first round to Edmonton --- just as they had in each of the previous two seasons under McLellan. Los Angeles tied its franchise records for victories (48) and points (105) last year in its first full campaign under Hiller, but they landed in yet another first-round matchup with the Oilers --- and Connor McDavid sent them packing yet again in six games. Hiller maintained McLellan's commitment to defense-first hockey as the Kings' primary identity, even if it sometimes meant playing a boring style for fans. Holland addressed their offensive problems by acquiring high-scoring Artemi Panarin in a trade with the Rangers before the break, but the Kings then lost star forward Kevin Fiala for the season when he broke his leg while playing for Switzerland at the Olympics. With back-to-back losses out of the break, Los Angeles slipped three points behind Seattle, which is in position for the final wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference. "We didn't feel good tonight," Hiller said immediately after the 8-1 shellacking from Edmonton. "I don't feel good standing here. Those players don't feel good today, but we've got a job to do." Smith was the coach of the Ottawa Senators from 2019 to 2023, leading four non-playoff seasons before he was fired 26 games into his fifth season. He joined the Kings' staff after Hiller replaced McLellan. He is the Kings' fifth coach since the firing in 2017 of Darryl Sutter, who led Los Angeles to its only two Stanley Cup championships. The Kings haven't won a playoff series since raising that second Cup in 2014, winning just nine total games in six first-round exits. Hiller is just the second coach fired in the NHL this season. Columbus replaced Dean Evason with Rick Bowness in January. ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

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