Fuel name Scott Hillman head coach

New Fuel coach Scott Hillman. Photo: ThePitch.com

Scott Hillman has been named the first head coach of the ECHL's Indy Fuel.

Hillman comes to the Fuel from the Central Hockey League's Missouri Mavericks, where he led the team to the regular season title in the league this year. He was also the Southern Professional Hockey League Coach of the Year in 2009 with the Knoxville Ice Bears.

He had been the only coach in the Mavericks' five-year history, posting a record of 186-132-26 in his five years with the Kansas City-area based team. He began his coaching career in Knoxville, and went 67-32-13 in two years there from 2007-09, winning the SPHL title both seasons.

As a player, Hillman was a four-time CHL All-Star. He played collegiately at the University of Windsor, and spent nearly all of his eight-season professional career with the Odessa Jackalopes of the Western Professional and Central Hockey Leagues. In nine seasons with Odessa, he had 66 goals and 260 assists in 446 games. He also played 12 games with WPHL El Paso and ECHL Toledo prior to going to Odessa in the 1999-2000 season, and a partial season in Germany in 1999-2000, as well. He was named the CHL's Man of the Year in 2002.

Upon retiring as a player in 2007, he became a coach, and has been a head coach each year since.  He coached in the 2011 CHL All-Star Game.

The 40-year-old Hillman is a native of LaSalle, Ontario.

“I’m honored to be named head coach of the Indy Fuel,” Hillman said in a press release. “Indianapolis is known as a great sports city, and this community has been waiting for professional hockey to return for way too long. As the coach, my goal is to create an environment that allows the young men on our roster to grow as players and people – our staff will give them every opportunity to excel and give our fans a disciplined, hard-working team that they can be proud of on and off the ice.”

"Coach Hillman is a rising star in professional hockey,” Fuel president Sean Hallett said in a press release. “His experience coaching a new franchise to immediate success and his commitment to building a winning culture make him the perfect fit as the Fuel’s head coach.”

Indy Fuel release
ECHL release
KC Star story on Hillman leaving the Missouri Mavericks

Scott Hillman's coaching record
2013-14: Missouri (CHL) 44-20-2
2012-13: Missouri (CHL) 35-25-6
2011-12: Missouri (CHL) 39-21-6
2010-11: Missouri (CHL) 37-23-6
2009-10: Missouri (CHL) 31-27-6
2008-09: Knoxville (SPHL) 35-16-9 (won championship)
2007-08: Knoxville (SPHL) 32-16-4 (won championship)
Total head coaching record: 253-148-13