That day, Hiller also offered a defense of his boss and the work he had done, even knowing that uncertainty about Blake\u2019s future could one day cloud his own.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say if you look back from seven years ago to today, I would think Blakey\u2019s done an excellent job,\u201d Hiller told The Athletic. \u201c\u2026 How I\u2019m judged, how Blakey (is judged), it\u2019s out of my control. I can only worry about myself. I\u2019m not going to be the one to evaluate Blakey, that\u2019s for sure. If I was, as I (say now), I think he\u2019s done a terrific job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that Blake is out of a job \u2014 whether by his own choice or mutual agreement, as a team-released statement indicated \u2014 Hiller knows that his status as head coach isn\u2019t settled, even though he just completed the first year of a three-year contract. His in-game decisions in the first round against Edmonton, some of which proved disastrous, didn\u2019t put him in the best light, even after one of the best regular seasons in Kings history.<\/p>\n
Team president Luc Robitaille is scheduled to address reporters on Tuesday about Blake\u2019s departure and the Kings\u2019 path toward hiring a new GM. But Hiller and Robitaille will talk about where Hiller fits into the new equation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t had those conversations yet,\u201d Hiller said. \u201cI\u2019ll be talking to Luc at some point for sure. But I do understand whenever there\u2019s change like that, significant change, there\u2019s usually more.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/la_kings_blake_USATSI_10012882-scaled-e1746495357103.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
From April 11, 2017: Kings president Luc Robitaille, left, and general manager Rob Blake are introduced at a press conference. (Kirby Lee \/ USA Today)<\/p>\n
There is no known timeline for the Kings to hire a new GM, but it might be decisive for Hiller to connect with his new boss. Even though he performed well enough to have his interim tag removed last May \u2014 three months after taking over for Todd McLellan \u2014 Hiller might have to win over another boss to remain in charge of the Kings\u2019 bench.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m proceeding for sure like I\u2019m the head coach,\u201d Hiller said. \u201cAt some point, I will talk to Luc and then at some point Luc \u2014 I would assume it\u2019s Luc \u2014 is going to do a search for the GM and hire a GM. And then at some point, I will assume I\u2019ll be speaking with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cStatus quo for me. There\u2019s players here that have to be talked to and given a plan and all those types of things.\u201d<\/p>\n
The status quo hasn\u2019t worked when it comes to the Kings and the postseason. They have been eliminated by the Oilers in the first round for four consecutive years, and they failed to win a playoff series in any of Blake\u2019s eight seasons in charge. Now, change is coming to the front office \u2014 and possibly more, if it filters downward.<\/p>\n
Before he got into his future on Monday, Hiller offered a reminder that the Kings had enjoyed a season with many accomplishments, \u201cone which I think had plenty of highs for us during the course of seven months.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen this last week, the lowest of lows, as you can all imagine,\u201d he continued. \u201cAnd I think today is another one of those, I would hope, for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some Kings fans might feel different about Blake\u2019s departure, but that was not the messaging coming out of the Kings\u2019 offices on an appropriately cloudy Monday near the Pacific Ocean. Blake is held in high esteem by the franchise, even if his track record as GM was mixed and never included playoff success.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a hard day,\u201d Kings captain An\u017ee Kopitar said. \u201cI\u2019ve known Blakey for 20 years now. He was my teammate before. He was our GM. More importantly, I think he\u2019s my friend, or our friend (motioning toward Drew Doughty). I think he did a good job building this team. I think we showed it this year. We didn\u2019t deliver. Obviously didn\u2019t move on. He paid the price for it, really.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a very, very exceptional human. Looking back now, he\u2019s done a lot for me as a player, as a GM, as a mentor. It sucks to see him leave, for sure. At least for a little bit next year, it\u2019s going to be weird not having him around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now we will see if Hiller is around when the Kings gather again for training camp. This was his second playoff series. Last spring\u2019s five-game loss could be seen as somewhat educational as a first-time NHL head coach whose mission was merely to get the Kings in the playoffs and salvage what was dissolving into a lost season.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s disappointment felt different, given that many considered the Kings to be a better team and the Oilers to be more vulnerable than in the three previous playoff meetings. The Kings took a 2-0 series lead, but everything changed when they got to Edmonton for the first of four consecutive losses.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen, it was a hard series,\u201d Hiller said. \u201cYou can always look back and say, maybe we could have done this or could have done that. I think every time you lose, no matter who you\u2019re playing or if you don\u2019t win and achieve your goal, you can always think, maybe we should have did this better or different. But in the end, you make decisions in the moment with the information you have. It didn\u2019t turn out for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of those fateful decisions came in Game 3, when Hiller challenged, for goalie interference, Evander Kane\u2019s score-tying goal with 6:42 left in the third period. The lost challenge gave the Oilers a power play, and Evan Bouchard scored the winning goal 10 seconds later.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Hiller acknowledged that was a turning point.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, that would have been one of them,\u201d he said. \u201cWell, in hindsight, that\u2019s a pretty easy evaluation. In hindsight, it\u2019s really easy. Obviously, in the moment, it was more difficult and we were disappointed with the way it went. We would have liked to come out and killed the penalty thereafter. I think that compounds with the call. Yeah, that\u2019s a big moment. There\u2019s no question.\u201d<\/p>\n
Things then spiraled for the Kings. Two excellent periods in Game 4 were wasted when they squandered a 3-1 lead and Edmonton tied the game on Bouchard\u2019s goal with 28.4 seconds left. They lost that game in overtime and then were beaten soundly in Game 5 as the Oilers grabbed control of the series for good.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing back to the challenge, it\u2019s not why we lost the series,\u201d Kings defenseman Joel Edmundson said. \u201cBut I think games 3 and 4, those were emotional losses for our group. When you lose games like that, it\u2019s tough to fall asleep that night. A couple of hours of sleep and you know you\u2019re playing the next day, it wears you down. I think those games 3 and 4 definitely they hit us hard. We had a chance to bounce back at home and Game 5 was probably our worst game.\u201d<\/p>\n
As his job-evaluation process continues, Hiller can fall back on his lauded communication skills and the fact that the Kings tied franchise records this season with 48 wins and 105 points.\u00a0Edmundson, who signed with Los Angeles last season and had one of the best seasons of his career, said Hiller talked to him right away and established that he\u2019d play a big role while also guiding young defender Brandt Clarke as his partner.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe coaches trust me,\u201d Edmundson said, \u201cand I think my team did also.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another free-agent signing from last summer, Warren Foegele, echoed similar thoughts when it came to Hiller and his demanding yet personable style.<\/p>\n
\u201cJimmy called me in the summer and said that he envisioned me with a bigger role,\u201d said Foegele, who had career-highs of 24 goals and 46 points. \u201cKind of challenged me to push myself, to be more consistent and take on more minutes. I thought he was awesome for that. He gave me a lot of confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Top photo of Jim Hiller: Michael Reaves \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL SEGUNDO, Calif. \u2014 Jim Hiller has coached the Los Angeles Kings for just 16 months \u2014 if…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3792],"tags":[7,4056,439,6,986,477,4055],"class_list":{"0":"post-12206","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento-kings","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-kings","10":"tag-los-angeles-kings","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-sacramento","13":"tag-sacramento-kings","14":"tag-sacramentokings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114458579993147642","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}