GRAND FORKS — Former UND captain Matt Greene is behind the bench for the first time in his career.
The Los Angeles Kings fired head coach Jim Hiller on Sunday and promoted assistant D.J. Smith to interim head coach. The Kings also named Greene an assistant coach.
Greene, 42, had been working as a player development coach since 2021.
Smith said Greene will run the defensive corps and share penalty kill duties with assistant Derik Johnson.
“The one thing about Greenie is, one, he’s won,” Smith said. “Two, his demeanor. He’s business. It’s going to be a fresh voice for some guys.
“What he’s going to bring is some confidence, and what he’s going to bring is some professionalism and a seriousness to the matter that this team needs to get playing better.”
Smith said he’s quite familiar with Greene.
“I dealt with Greenie a lot with Clarkie (23-year-old defenseman Brandt Clarke),” Smith said. “He’s a big reason for Clarke’s development. He’s done a really nice job with him and he’s got a relationship with him.”
The Kings are currently 24-22-14 with 62 points. They’re four points out of the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Greene’s first game behind the bench was Tuesday against his old UND coach, Dave Hakstol, and the Colorado Avalanche.
“When he talks, you listen,” Kings defenseman Brian Dumoulin said after the game. “He’s got such an authoritative voice. He doesn’t mince words. Very honest and open. He’s a great person, a great human being. Obviously, he’s done a lot for this organization. It’s awesome to have him back there. He’s such a respected defenseman.”
Greene won two Stanley Cups as an assistant captain of the Kings in 2012 and 2014. He brought the Stanley Cup to Grand Forks in 2014.
Greene, who played at UND from 2002-05 returned to Grand Forks this fall and spoke to the current squad before the season started.
* Forward Jackson Blake extended his point streak to three games with a goal and an assist for Carolina against Detroit on Saturday. Only two 2003-born players have more points than him this season — Dallas’ Wyatt Johnston (first round, No. 23 overall) and Utah’s Dylan Guenther (first round, No. 9 overall). Blake was a fourth-round pick, No. 109 overall.
* Defenseman Jake Sanderson of the Ottawa Senators has points in both games since returning from the Olympics with a gold medal. Sanderson tallied assists against Detroit and Toronto.
* Forward Nick Schmaltz tallied two assists for Utah against the Minnesota Wild on Friday. Schmaltz has eight points in his last five games. He has 55 points in 60 games this season, ranking second on Utah in scoring.
* UND’s two Kalamazoo Wings, Jackson Kunz and Griffin Ness, were out of town this weekend, so they couldn’t visit with their old squad when UND came to town to play Western Michigan. But they made the most of their trip to Cincinnati. Kunz scored twice in two games, while Ness tallied an assist in his only game of the weekend.
Kimberly Moss / K-Wings
* Winger Austin Poganski stayed hot for the Tucson Roadrunners in the American Hockey League. He tallied three assists in two games over the weekend. He now has nine points in the last nine games. Poganski, the team captain, is third on Tucson in scoring with 37 points in 50 games.
* Goaltender Cam Johnson has won six consecutive starts for Florida in the ECHL. The three-time Kelly Cup champion has only allowed one goal in five straight games and has a .955 save percentage in those games.
* Forward Grant Mismash had back-to-back two-goal games this weekend for Coventry in the top United Kingdom-based league. Mismash has 12 points in the last 10 games. He is now the second-leading scorer in the league — and tops on his team — with 42 points in 41 games.
* Grand Forks native Luke Johnson scored his ninth goal of the season Friday for Magnitogorsk against Omsk in the KHL, the top Russian-based league. Johnson has 16 points in 33 games this season.
* Winger Shane Gerisch extended his point streak to five games by tallying three assists for HC Bolzano against Vorarlberg on Sunday. Bolzano is an Italian-based team that plays in the top Austrian league. Gersich has 16 goals and 42 points in 48 games. He’s fourth on his team in scoring. Bolzano is in fourth place in the league.
* Center Connor Ford was loaned to Lukko in Finland’s top league for the rest of the season. Lukko is in fifth place in the league. Ford started the season with Jukurit, which is in 14th place out of 16 teams. Ford was an alternate captain for Jukurit, where he tallied eight goals and 23 points in 40 games.
* Forward Cameron Berg has points in both games since being recalled to the AHL last week. He tallied an assist Saturday for the Bridgeport Islanders, then scored Sunday against Providence.
* Forward Jasper Weatherby scored an overtime winner Friday for Liberec in the top Czech league. Weatherby also assisted on a goal in that game against Mladá Boleslav. He has 20 points in 50 games this season.
* Goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter, who signed a contract extension for Milwaukee (AHL), was re-assigned to Atlanta in the ECHL.
* Goaltender Drew DeRidder is seeing an absurd number of shots in Manchester in the top United Kingdom-based league. In six of his last nine starts, he’s seen 40-plus shots. DeRidder has a .942 save percentage in those games. For the season, he’s 14-12 with a .941 save percentage.
* Defenseman Garrett Lindberg of Moorhead had two assists and registered a plus-5 rating as his Fargo Force swept Sioux City 4-1 and 4-0 in United States Hockey League play. Lindberg, a 2026 recruit, has five goals, 19 points and a plus-18 rating this season.
* Fellow 2026 defenseman recruit, Ethan MacKenzie of the Western Hockey League’s Edmonton Oil Kings, hit the 20-goal mark this season by scoring on Friday and Saturday this weekend.
* Forward Cooper Simpson of the Youngstown Phantoms hit the 30-goal mark by tallying three over the weekend. The 2026 commit ranks third in the USHL in goals and second in points (67).
