Hockey Ops

Scott Hillman | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Head Coach / Director of Hockey Operations

Hillman, 35, joins the Central Hockey League(CHL) expansion franchise after capturing back-to-back regular season and playoff titles as the head coach with the Knoxville Ice Bears of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). During Hillman’s two seasons with the Ice Bears, his team compiled a record of 67-32-13 (.660), and he was named the SPHL Coach of the Year in 2008-09.

Hillman had a stellar nine-season professional playing career, including his final eight seasons with the CHL’s Odessa Jackalopes. The offensive defenseman was a four-time CHL All Star, and is the Jackalopes’ all-time leader in games played (446), and assists (260). He finished his career as the second leading scorer in club history with 326 points, and ranks among the top scoring defenseman in CHL history.

The 2001-02 CHL Man of the Year graduated from the University of Windsor with a bachelor’s degree in human kinetics in 1999. He later received a Master of Science in kinesiology from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in 2002, compiling a 4.0 grade point average.

Hillman completed his amateur career as the leading scoring defenseman in Windsor Lancer history. He led the Lancers to two consecutive trips to the National Championship Tournament. In 1998 he was honored with the Frank Demarco Award – recognized as Windsor’s outstanding male academic student athlete.

The LaSalle, Ontario native is married to wife Dalyn and the couple has two sons; Corbin, 7 and Guhnar, 3.

Jeff Christian | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Player / Assistant Coach

Christian was announced as the first player in team history on July 1, 2009. He will also serve as assistant coach to Scott Hillman, helping with all facets of the hockey operations department.

Christian, 39 (7/30/70), is entering his 20th professional season and fifth in the CHL. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound right-winger was selected in the second round (23rd overall) of the 1988 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft by the New Jersey Devils. He played a total of 18 games in the NHL with New Jersey, Pittsburgh and Phoenix.

A Burlington, Ontario native, Christian has played 1,198 games in his 19-year professional career and has averaged nearly a point per contest, scoring 1155 points (495-660=2255). Christian has played the last four seasons in the CHL and has more points than any other player in the league during that time with 382 points (144-238=382) in 245 games played. He was named the CHL’s Most Valuable Player for the 2006-07 season while playing for the Youngstown SteelHounds. During that campaign, Christian led the league with a career-high 116 points (38-78=116), 78 assists and a rating of +45 in 61 games. He has been in the top 10 among scoring leaders in each of his four seasons in the CHL.

Jeff Christian CHL Accolades

CHL MVP (2007)
CHL MVP Runner-Up (2006)
Three-time CHL All-Star (2006, 2007, 2009)
Two-time All-CHL Team (2006, 2007)
Eight-time Oakley CHL Player of the Week
382 points (144-238=382) is the most scored by any CHL player over the last four seasons
Scored points in 216 of 245 career CHL games (88%)
CHL-high 112 multiple-point games over past four seasons (46% of his games are multiple points)