3 Key Takeaways from Reign HC Andrew Lord’s Intro Media Availability

The Ontario Reign formally introduced Andrew Lord as the team’s new head coach in a media availability this morning.

Lord joins the Reign from the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, after he led the team to the second round of the playoffs during the 2024-25 season. Prior to joining Halifax, Lord was the Head Coach of the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits, the ECHL affiliate of the LA Kings. Lord was named as the 2024 winner of the John Brophy Trophy, given annually to the coach of the year in the ECHL.

My interactions with Lord before today were relatively minimal. We had chatted a couple of times during Kings Rookie Camp in Arizona a few years back and he joined us on the All The Kings Men Podcast around that time as well. Lord struck me as a direct communicator, first and foremost, which is typically something that resonates well with players. In the ECHL, his role was focused more on winning than player development and that’s something he spoke to in his media availability today. Looking forward to connecting with him again soon and expecting a return to the podcast in short order.

In hearing from Lord today, I had 3 key takeaways from his availability –

Balance Between Winning & Development
Development and Winning. The age-old question for coaches in the American Hockey League.

It’s an easy question to answer, yet every coach will approach it differently. Ultimately, actions will speak louder than words. No coach goes into a game with any intention other than to win, yet when you get into a game, into pivotal moments, there are situations where veteran players give you the best chance to win a game, yet utilizing can sometimes come at the expense of prospects who are there to develop into what everyone hopes will become NHL players.

Lord was posed that question today and he gave an answer that, in itself, is not anything out of the ordinary. But every coach in the AHL has to answer that question. And what they say is important. What they do, ultimately, is what is more important.

“I think it’s the ultimate juggling act, between the developing and the winning but with that being said, I really believe that winning is developing in a lot of ways,” Lord said. “Starting with developing a competitive nature, clawing yourself out of tough situations, going on the road and having a big win. When players get called up or when there’s injuries, the competitive nature of raising your own game play to fill holes. Obviously there’s going to be a plan from management, from the Kings on down, that will be comprehensive and we’re going to work together on and make sure guys are getting the minutes they need to develop……I feel really good about an all-encompassing approach and continuing on what [Marco Sturm] did these past three years from a competitive standpoint, mixing in the winning along with the development.”

Playing Like The Kings Play
One thing that we’ve heard consistently from both Todd McLellan and Jim Hiller is that, under Marco Sturm, players from the Reign came up ready to go.

Style of play, language used during practices and in meetings and establishment of roles was all done in the AHL the same way that Hiller and McLellan were doing it in the NHL. Both coaches spoke about how important that was in having players come in and hit the ground running.

Lord will be tasked with employing the same type of workflow. One thing he said really stood out to me. While he is the head coach of Ontario, he also referred to himself as almost an assistant coach for the Kings. It speaks to the above quote as well. AHL coaches are tasked with the balance between development and winning and they often go together, as he said above. Making sure that players are ready, though, is perhaps the most important thing an AHL coach can do as it comes to contributing towards the NHL success of the Kings. The Kings aren’t in a developmental state and when a player comes up, that player has to step right in and contribute. That is an important part of what Lord will look to continue with Ontario.

“It’s going to be seamless, it has to be, right,” Lord said. “I mean, we’re expecting guys to be able to get called up today or tomorrow and go and play in a National Hockey League game and they’ve got to be playing the same systems, right? I’m sure there’s some ability to have a couple of wrinkles here and there, that’s been discussed with management, but ultimately, I see myself as an assistant coach in a way to the NHL. I think we all do. We’re just trying to help them and provide to them as much depth as possible and in order to do that, I think our language, our systems, our structure, our details how our identity is as a team needs to be completely aligned. If we do that, I think it’s going to be fast enough for them when they’re playing their first NHL game or their tenth NHL game. We have a job to do to, to make as many things as seamless as possible and it certainly starts with all that. We’ll be in direct communication and whatever they need from us, we’re going to give them.”

Chris Hajt, Status & Role
It was nice to see Chris Hajt stay on board with the Reign on Lord’s staff, with a promotion to Associate Coach well deserved.

Hajt has been with the Reign since I worked for the team in 2019. He’s been a key voice and an important factor in the development of defensemen within the organization and over the past several years, it’s been defensemen that the Kings have done a great job of developing. Mikey Anderson, Sean Durzi, Brandt Clarke, Jordan Spence and Jacob Moverare all played under Hajt in Ontario and went on to establish themselves as NHL-caliber defensemen in one form or another. A lot of that is certainly on the player, first and foremost, but Hajt has had an influence and he’s been a trusted voice and coach in the respective developmental process for each of those players. Important to keep him on the staff and for me, the title bump is very, very well deserved and perhaps even overdue. Good for him.

Lord spoke about an existing relationship, which is in place from their time together at rookie camps over the last few years, and the two have already connected in advance of Lord formally coming on board. He called Hajt a “fantastic” coach and made it known it’s a huge benefit to him to have Hajt with him on the staff as both a great coach and a holdover from past regimes who has helped to develop a number of players in the past.

Well deserved, certainly.

Will have another feature story here on Lord later this week, with Reign Insider Jared Shafran delivering a longer piece on the new Reign bench boss.