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Bill Peters (ice hockey)

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Bill Peters
Peters in 2014
Born (1965-01-13) January 13, 1965 (age 59)
Three Hills, Alberta, Canada

William Robert Peters (born January 13, 1965) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former college player. He is the current head coach of the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has also served as head coach for the Carolina Hurricanes as well as the Canadian men's national ice hockey team.

Early life and career

Peters was born in Three Hills, Alberta, where he spent the first 10 years of his life living on a cattle and grain farm. He then moved to Killam, where he began playing both ice hockey and baseball. At the age of fifteen, Peters broke his knee when he was run over on his bicycle by a car, an injury that hindered his intention to play professionally.[1] He played two seasons for the Augustana Vikings, and one for the Red Deer College Kings, where he won the 1989 Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference championship under future mentor Mike Babcock.[2] After this, he began his managerial career coaching Killam's Junior B team at the age of 24, before moving to Texas for his wife's nursing job. Peters helped open San Antonio's first ice hockey rink, and held hockey schools every summer across the United States and Canada.[3] He also played his only game as a professional in Texas, as a last-minute replacement in 1996 for the Central Hockey League's San Antonio Iguanas.[4]

Coaching career

Early career

Peters began his career during the 1989–90 season with his hometown Killam Wheat Kings as head coach.[5] Then starting in the 1996–97 season, he was named as an assistant coach for the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He served in that role through the end of the 2001–02 season. Peters then took his first head coaching job with the University of Lethbridge, and guided the Pronghorns for three seasons from 2002–03 through 2004–05.

Spokane Chiefs

Peters was named head coach of the Spokane Chiefs in June 2005.[6] His team posted a 25–39–8 record in his first season before taking a step forward in 2006–07 WHL season when the Chiefs posted a 36–28–8 regular season record and qualified for the WHL playoffs for the first time since 2004.

Spokane posted a franchise-best 50 regular season wins and 107 points in the 2007–08 WHL season en route to a third-place finish in the WHL's Western Conference. The Chiefs went on to win 16 of 21 playoff games to claim the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions. Peters then guided the Chiefs to four consecutive victories to claim the Memorial Cup as Canadian Hockey League champions. In his three seasons with the Chiefs, Peters posted a 111–82–23 regular season record.

Rockford IceHogs

After the Chiefs won the 2008 Memorial Cup, Peters left Spokane[7] and was named head coach of the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League (AHL) on Aug. 1, 2008.[8] The IceHogs posted consecutive 40-win seasons and qualified for the Calder Cup playoffs in each of Peters' first two years with the team, going 40–34–6 in 2008–09, and 44–30–6 in 2009–10. In his final season with Rockford, Peters led the second-youngest team in the AHL to a 38–33–9 record.

Eight players who played for Rockford during Peters' tenure went on to win the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010 or 2013 - Niklas Hjalmarsson, Jordan Hendry, Antti Niemi, Corey Crawford, Bryan Bickell, Nick Leddy, Brandon Bollig and Ben Smith.

Detroit Red Wings

On July 8, 2011, the Detroit Red Wings named Peters as an assistant coach.[9] Peters worked primarily with the team's defensemen and penalty-killing units.

Carolina Hurricanes

On June 19, 2014, the Carolina Hurricanes announced that Peters had been hired to replace the vacant head coach position, previously held by Kirk Muller.[10] On April 20, 2018, Peters resigned from his position as head coach of the Hurricanes.[11]

Calgary Flames

On April 23, 2018, Peters was hired as head coach of the Calgary Flames.[12]

International coaching career

Peters served as head coach of the gold medal-winning Canadian team at the 2008 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. That under-18 team included future NHL stars Taylor Hall, Ryan O'Reilly, Brayden Schenn, Evander Kane, and Matt Duchene, among others.[13] Peters also served as head coach of Canada's gold-medal-winning team at the 2016 IIHF World Championship, and he was an assistant coach for Team Canada's championship teams at the 2015 IIHF World Championship and 2016 World Cup of Hockey. On April 9, 2018, Hockey Canada announced that Peters will serve as head coach for Canada's squad at the 2018 IIHF World Championship.[14]

Coaching record

Team Year Regular season Postseason
G W L OTL Pts Finish W L Result
CAR 2014–15 82 30 41 11 71 8th in Metropolitan — — Missed playoffs
CAR 2015–16 82 35 31 16 86 6th in Metropolitan — — Missed playoffs
CAR 2016–17 82 36 31 15 87 7th in Metropolitan — — Missed playoffs
CAR 2017–18 82 36 35 11 83 6th in Metropolitan — — Missed playoffs
Total 328 137 138 53 327 — —

References

  1. ^ Alberta trip is a homecoming for Canes coach Bill Peters | News & Observer
  2. ^ ACAC Men's Hockey • News
  3. ^ Top Chief | News | The Pacific Northwest Inlander | News, Politics, Music, Calendar, Events in Spokane, Coeur d'Alene and the Inland Northwest
  4. ^ Bill Peters introduced as new coach of Carolina Hurricanes - NHL.com - News
  5. ^ https://www.eliteprospects.com/staff/2529/bill-peters
  6. ^ Chiefs name Peters head coach - OurSports Central - Independent and Minor League Sports News
  7. ^ Spokane Chiefs Coach Peters leaving to go pro - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com
  8. ^ Official Website of the Rockford IceHogs: IceHogs News
  9. ^ Wings name new assistant coaches - Detroit Red Wings - News
  10. ^ Williams, Terrell. "Hurricanes Hire Bill Peters as Head Coach". Carolina Hurricanes. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  11. ^ Terry, Miles (April 20, 2018). "Bill Peters Resigns Position as Head Coach". NHL.com. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  12. ^ "FLAMES NAME BILL PETERS HEAD COACH". NHL.com. April 23, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  13. ^ [1][dead link‍]
  14. ^ [2]
Preceded by Head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes
2014–2018 		Succeeded by
TBA
Preceded by Head coach of the Calgary Flames
2018–present 		Succeeded by
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