The Carolina Hurricanes are staring at a seventh straight summer without postseason hockey, but their coach is going to have his hands full nonetheless.
Hockey Canada announced on Tuesday that Canes coach Bill Peters will serve as head coach for Team Canada at the 2016 IIHF World Hockey Championships in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia from May 6-22. Peters, who was previously announced as an assistant coach on Mike Babcock's Canada staff for the World Cup of Hockey in Toronto this September, served as an assistant coach at the 2015 Worlds, and this is his first time taking the helm of a Canadian senior team in international competition.
In his previous turn helming the bench at international level, Peters served as coach for the gold-medal winning Canada U-18 team at the U-18 Junior World Cup in 2008, the same season he coached the Spokane Chiefs to the Memorial Cup title. The Canes' coach will be assisted by Ottawa Senators coach Dave Cameron, former Minnesota Wild coach Mike Yeo, and Hockey Canada analytics guru Misha Donskov.
The press release is below.
PETERS TO COACH CANADA AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPSHurricanes head coach will lead home country at international tournamentHockey Canada today announced that Carolina Hurricanes Head Coach Bill Peters will serve as the head coach for Canada at the 2016 IIHF World Championship, to be held from May 6-22 in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Peters is in his second season as head coach of the Hurricanes, and has compiled an NHL record of 64-70-27 in 161 games. Prior to joining Carolina, Peters spent three seasons in Detroit as an assistant coach to Canada’s World Cup of Hockey head coach Mike Babcock. On Nov. 5, 2015, Hockey Canada announced that Peters had been named to Canada’s coaching staff for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, to take place in Toronto, Sept. 17-Oct. 1, 2016.
Peters, a native of Three Hills, Alb., served as an assistant coach as Canada captured gold at the 2015 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship in the Czech Republic. In 2008, he was head coach of Team Canada’s gold-medal-winning squad at the IIHF U-18 Junior World Cup.