The Carolina Hurricanes hired Bill Peters as their new head coach on Thursday. He will be introduced at a news conference on Friday.
Peters was an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings for the past three seasons. He replaces Kirk Mueller who was fired on May 5. Muller went 80-80-27 in three seasons with the Hurricanes. Peters is the second consecutive first-time NHL coach for the Hurricanes, according to the Associated Press. Muller was coaching the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League when the Hurricanes hired him. Peters was coaching the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL before working with the Red Wings.
"I'll take the culture of winning in Detroit with me," Peters told the Detroit Free Press. "Our players are everyday-ers, and that's going to be our challenge in Carolina, to win every game. Our expectations are going to be high, we're going to improve our work ethic across the board, and that will allow us to have more success."
Peters also said that he had interviewed with the Florida Panthers for their coaching job.
The hiring of Peters should be a good thing for the Hurricanes. They have struggled in recent years. This past season the Hurricanes had a 36-35-11 record and finished 24th overall, according to Fox Sports. They failed to make the playoffs. The Hurricanes haven’t made the playoffs since 2009, and have made the playoffs just once since winning the Stanley Cup in 2006.
There are still some teams that are still looking for their next head coach. The Vancouver Canucks, Panthers, and Pittsburgh Penguins are the teams still looking for a coach.