The Kings’ extended search for a minor-league coach has concluded, and while they might have looked high and low, they ultimately decided on a familiar face in Andrew Lord.
Lord, 40, will guide the AHL’s Ontario Reign. That’s a step up from his stewardship of the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits, who are the AA affiliate to the Reign’s AAA, a duty he carried out from 2020-24. In his final season, he was honored as the ECHL Coach of the Year. Most recently, he shepherded the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL to a playoff berth and a first-round upset last season.
Now, he will replace Marco Sturm as the Reign’s bench boss after Sturm landed his first NHL head coaching gig, with the Boston Bruins, earlier this offseason.
Prior to his arrival in the Kings’ organization, Lord began his coaching career overseas in Wales, first as a player-coach and then as the head coach of the Cardiff Devils.
“We are excited to welcome Andrew to the Kings and Reign family as the head coach of the Ontario Reign,” Reign general manager Richard Seeley said. “At just 40 years old, Andrew has over 10 years of coaching experience in both Europe and North America and has shown the ability to create a winning culture in a variety of different environments. Andrew’s familiarity with our organization as head coach of our ECHL affiliate in Greenville will serve him well as he continues to develop the L.A. Kings prospects here in Ontario and his passion and work ethic will help further the strong culture in place with our existing staff.”
Hailing from West Vancouver, British Columbia, Lord played college hockey for the RPI Engineers before moving onto the minor-league level and playing professionally in Germany and Wales. That path was somewhat parallel to the one walked by Kings coach Jim Hiller, another B.C. native and collegiate competitor (Northern Michigan) who played pro most extensively in Europe, primarily in Germany before spending a season in Italy.
After adding substantially to Cardiff’s trophy case, Lord led the Swamp Rabbits to the playoffs in each of his four seasons at the helm, including a conference finals run.
In Ontario, assistants Chris Hajt and Brad Schuler remain aboard to work under Lord.
“I am extremely excited and feel very fortunate to be a part of such a great organization,” Lord said. “I want to thank both the L.A. Kings and Ontario Reign, specifically (Kings GM) Ken Holland, (Kings director of player development) Glenn Murray and Richard Seeley for this incredible opportunity. I cannot wait to get started and do my part to carry on the great tradition of excellence and development put in place by former and current staff and players.”