TORONTO - Fired two months ago as head coach of the Toronto Marlies, Gord Dineen is back with the Maple Leafs' American Hockey League affiliate.

The Marlies announced Thursday that Dineen has been hired as an associate coach on Sheldon Keefe's staff for the 2015-16 season.

Dineen was named the Marlies' head coach on July 15 of 2014, after serving as the team's assistant for the previous five seasons.

The team secured the seventh seed in the AHL's Western Conference this past regular season with a 39-28-9 record but was eliminated in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs, losing a best-of-five series 3-2 to the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Keefe was hired last month after a successful tenure with the Ontario Hockey League's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

Keefe earned both the 2014-15 CHL and OHL coach of the year awards after leading the Greyhounds to a league-best record of 54-12-0-2 and establishing a new franchise record with 110 points.

The Marlies also hired A.J. MacLean as an assistant coach.