Peters leaves Chiefs

The Spokane Chiefs have announced that head coach Bill Peters is leaving. The press release:

The Spokane Chiefs have announced that Bill Peters has accepted a position with the Chicago Blackhawks organization and will be named the Head Coach of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.

"I think this is a good opportunity at this stage of my career and it wouldn't have been possible without the experience and success we had in Spokane," Peters said. "Spokane is a good organization and the people with the Chiefs are great; from the top with Bobby Brett on down. Working with Tim Speltz six of my last nine years has been nothing but excellent. The Spokane organization develops not only players, but coaches."

"I'm excited about the opportunity with the Chicago Blackhawks organization," Peters continued. "In meeting with them I felt good about the direction their team is going. It is an organization in the upswing and I was impressed with the people, particularly Dale Tallon, Stan Bowman and John McDonough."

Chiefs General Manager Tim Speltz said, "We wish Bill and his family all the best with their opportunity in pro hockey with the Blackhawks organization. It is rewarding for our team to have someone start their coaching career with us and then graduate to pro. Bill and Hardy Sauter did a great job last year and we will be forever grateful for our championship season. I appreciate my time with Bill and think he is a special person."

Peters, who is currently in Calgary, Alberta preparing to coach Team Canada's summer Under-18 team, will be unavailable today.

Peters wrapped up his third season as Spokane Head Coach this past spring by helping the club win the first ever Ed Chynoweth Cup as champions of the WHL and the organization's second Memorial Cup Championship. The 43-year-old sits third on the franchise's list for wins (115) and games coached (216). With Peters on the bench, Spokane tied a single season franchise record with 50 wins and set a franchise marks with 107 points and fewest goals allowed in a single season (160, 2.22 per game) in 2007-08. The Chiefs improved in wins and points from the previous season each of the past three years, including an 11 win and 22 point turnaround from 2005-06 to 2006-07 and a 14 win and 27 point improvement from '06-'07 and 2007-08.

In 2005-06 Peters became the ninth full-time head coach of the Chiefs, a return to the organization where he once served as an assistant, after a three year stint as the as the Head Coach of the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns. The Red Deer, Alberta native originally joined the Chiefs family as a scout and served as an assistant coach for half of the 1996-97 season. He accepted the assistant position in 1999 and served through 2002 before taking the Lethbridge job.

His first year as an assistant in 1999-2000, Peters was a part of the largest turnaround in franchise history going from 19 wins in 1998-99 to 47 the following year. The Chiefs won the West Division title in the regular season and the Western Conference Championship in the playoffs before falling in the WHL Finals to the Kootenay Ice.

In his first experience with Hockey Canada, Peters won a silver medal as the Head Coach of Team Pacific at the under-17 World Hockey Challenge in 2005. The 2008 Under-18 Summer team will participate in the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament, scheduled for August 12-16 in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

The 43-year-old and his wife, Denise, have two children, 8-year-old Aleze and 3-year-old Ayden.

The search to replace Peters will begin immediately.