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Leafs Confirm Smith, Hiller, Brewer, and Herring Hirings

By Jon Steitzer

Jun 16, 2015, 17:25 EDTUpdated:

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The earlier information from Damien Cox has now been confirmed by the Leafs, and the team now has three new assistant coaches and a new Strength and Conditioning Coach.

So as we mentioned earlier, with D.J. Smith the Leafs are adding a Memorial Cup winning coach who pulled off upsets over the Kelowna Rockets and Erie Otters to get there. And as Cox mentioned, the Oshawa Generals were the best defensive team in the OHL this season. The Generals have recently produced Cole Cassels, Boone Jenner, and Scott Laughton as solid two way centers.

Jim Hiller, who Cox had also previously mentioned as joining the Leafs as an assistant comes from the Red Wings and has previously spent one year working under Mike Babcock. Prior to that Hiller has been a long time head coach in the WHL with the Tri-City Americans and previously the Chilliwack Bruins. He made the playoffs 7 out of the 8 years he was a head coach in the WHL.

Andrew Brewer’s hiring isn’t much of a surprise either, as he too has served under Babcock in Detroit, primarily serving as the video coach, a role that he previously held for Hockey Canada and where he and Babcock initially crossed paths. Babcock has called Brewer the best video guy in the business so I wouldn’t imagine he’ll be shaking that responsibility anytime soon, although the Leafs currently have a video analyst on staff.

Finally, the Leafs have added Matthew Herring as their Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, snatching him away from the San Antonio Spurs.

From the Leafs official release:

“Herring, 29, spent the last two seasons as an Athletic Performance
Associate with the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball
Association. With the Spurs, his responsibilities included strength
& conditioning, sports science and nutrition. The Bermuda native was
a part of the Spurs organization during their NBA Championship season
in 2013-14.
Herring holds a BSc in Sports Science from the University of Wales
(Swansea) as well as an MSc in Strength and Conditioning from the
University of Edinburgh. He is also a Certified Strength and
Conditioning Specialist.”

That doesn’t seem like a bad hire either considering the Spurs have done quite well for themselves in a sport I can’t say I know anything about, but they are aalso the same organization that Dr. Jeremy Bettle came from.

With today’s changes the current Hockey Operations Organization Chart now looks like this:

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The GM and Goaltending Coach are still significant vacancies to address, and the Marlies Assistant jobs definitely need to be sorted out, but there’s also the matter of if and where Kelly McCrimmon fits into this picture, and if Mike Babcock will pursue an Associate Coach at some point this summer. Stay tuned as we’ve already updated this chart twice today.