The Lethbridge Hurricanes have named Bill Peters’ replacement.
Peters left his position as head coach back in May and longtime member of the coaching staff Matt Anholt has been named his successor.
READ MORE: Bill Peters not returning as Lethbridge Hurricanes head coach
The 31-year-old Anholt has spent the last seven seasons with the Hurricanes’ coaching staff, most recently as assistant head coach and assistant general manager.
Anholt’s journey with the Lethbridge club started during the 2018-19 season, when he joined the team as a skills and development coach before being promoted to assistant in 2020-21. Anholt added the title of assistant general manager to his role in 2021-22.
In his coaching capacity, the Prince Albert, Saskatchewan native helped the ‘Canes qualify for the WHL playoffs in all six years in which the playoffs were held. This past season, Anholt helped guide the team to the WHL Eastern Conference Championships.
On the international side, Anholt has represented Canada twice, serving as an assistant coach in 2024 and 2025 at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. He helped team Canada Red win a silver medal during the 2025 tournament.
“We’ve turned kids into [professionals] and we’ve had a lot of fun doing so. My experience has been nothing short of excellent. I was fortunate enough to go to some Hockey Canada events as well. You can [gather] a lot of ideas when you’re there and learn from some really good coaches from across Canada,” Anholt remarks.
On learning under former head coaches Brent Kisio and Bill Peters, Anholt says, “I owe everything to those guys”.
“Brent had an unbelievable understanding of how to win at this level,” he remarks.
“Bill was as detailed as it comes in all facets of hockey. It wasn’t just hockey, it was scheduling, it was meals, [and] it was how [we operated] day-to-day to make it easier on the players,” he adds.
This upcoming season, Anholt says although some players are leaving the team, the future is bright. “We have lot of really good players coming back,” he states, adding he wants the players to embrace a hustle mentality.
“We want to make plays and if they fail and turn the puck over, then work twice as hard to get it back.”
Anholt plans to put a focus on skill development and player retention.
“They’re going to get better here,” he says.
“They can improve here, [and] this is a place where they can get better and improve and maybe be an NHL draft pick or get signed by an NHL team or get a good scholarship.”
He adds his existing connections with players Logan Wormald and Tristen Doyle will be an asset as he moves to the head coaching position.
“I think I have a very open relationship with those kids, where they can come to me with problems and I expect that to be no different as a head coach,” Anholt states.
The new head coach has playing experience as well, having suited up for four seasons at the University of Alaska-Anchorage in the NCAA. With the team, he served as captain for his last two seasons and spent one season as an alternate captain. Over the course of 103 regular season NCAA games, he scored 14 goals and dished out 39 assists and recorded 62 penalty minutes.
Before lacing up his skates in the NCAA, Anholt spent two seasons with the West Kelowna Warriors in the British Columbia Hockey League. In 113 regular season games, he scored 26 goals and had 53 assists, along with 76 penalty minutes. In 16 playoff matchups, Anholt scored five goals, six assists, and recorded 15 penalty minutes. In his final season with the Warriors, 2013-14, he served as the team’s captain.
FAMILY CONNECTION
The name Anholt might sound familiar to Hurricanes fans, as Matt’s father Peter serves as the team’s general manager. Peter admits it is rare for a general manager to hire his son as a head coach but knows with Matt’s experience with the team and with everything he has learned from past coaches, he is the perfect fit for the role.
Anholt says he and his son understand separating business and family matters.
“I know it’s easy to focus on the father-son thing, but really, it doesn’t really matter. It’s business and I think that we seem to be able to separate that business with family and how we treat each other at home, around the house or around the dinner table at family dinner – we’re at work here, it’s way different,” the general manager says.
“Ultimately, it’s to make sure our players have an atmosphere where they have the chance to win on any given night and have the chance to develop in a really good atmosphere, and I think that’s the challenge to our coaching staff, whether he is my son or not.”
The general manager believes his son will continue to help build the club’s culture of positivity and player development.
RYAN AASMAN
The club has announced that Ryan Aasman is returning for his fifth year with the Hurricanes. The assistant coach first joined the team as a video coach in 2021-22. In 2023, he was promoted to assistant coach, a position he has held for the last three seasons.
The team notes that Aasman will shift his focus to coaching defensemen after spending the past three seasons leading the forward group.
Before joining the ‘Canes, the 33-year-old served as head coach of the Calgary Northstars U18 AAA team after one season with the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Grande Prairie Storm, where he was the team’s interim head coach.
Additionally, he spent time as an assistant coach with the Lethbridge Golden Haws U15 AAA team and the Hurricanes U18 AAA team. Aasman also spent four seasons playing with the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
TORRIN WHITE
One of the new faces for the 2025-26 coaching staff is Torrin White. The 30-year-old joins the team as an assistant coach after spending the 2024-25 campaign as the general manager and head coach of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Princeton Posse. Under White, the team finished with a 33-7-3-1 record to land at the top of their division during the regular season, while placing second overall in the regular season standings, before losing in the second round of the league playoffs.
White has a connection to the city.
The 30-year-old played four seasons at the U of L from 2016 to 2020. In 88 regular season games with the Pronghorns, he scored 21 goals and recorded 21 assists, along with 89 penalty minutes. White skated in 251 regular season WHL games over parts of six seasons, scoring 50 goals and 60 assists, along with 97 penalty minutes for the Moose Jaw Warriors, before spending his overage season in the BCHL with the Langley Rivermen.
Former member of the Lethbridge Hurricanes Jaeger White is also Torrin’s brother.
MATT WENINGER
Matt Weninger joins the Hurricanes as the goaltending coach.
From Lethbridge, the 36-year-old has spent the last seven seasons as the goalie coach for the Moose Jaw Warriors, being a part of their 2024 WHL Championship.
Prior to his time with Moose Jaw, he spent three seasons as the goaltending coach of the U of L Pronghorns and two seasons with the Yorkton Terriers in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. Additionally, Weninger served as the goalie coach for Hockey Canada at the 2021 World U18 Championships.
He spent three seasons in the SJHL as a goalie with the Kindersley Klippers and Flin Flon Bombers from 2008 to 2010. He then spent four seasons in the NCAA with St. Lawrence University, appearing in 132 regular season games, where he amassed a record of 51-63-14 and a 2.96 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.
UPCOMING SEASON
The Hurricanes open their training camp on Thursday, August 28.
Their five-game pre-season starts on Tuesday, September 2 on home ice against the Medicine Hat Tigers, and the 2025-26 regular season kicks off on Friday, September 19 at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena against the Calgary Hitmen.
