Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters resigns amid racial slur incident

The now-former head coach of the Calgary Flames, Bill Peters, has resigned after claims came to light that the coach directed racial slurs against a former player a decade ago.

The Calgary Flames’ head coach Bill Peters has officially resigned from the team, TSN Frank Seravalli reported on Friday. Peters was being investigated by the Flames on allegations that the coach directed racial slurs at a former player while the pair were in the AHL.

On Monday, former NHL player Akim Aliu tweeted a thread that claimed that Peters directed racial slurs at him while Peters was coaching the Rockford IceHogs during the 2009-10 season. Aliu, a 20-year-old rookie at the time, eventually was demoted to the ECHL that season in a believed slight for the player’s “rebellious” actions.

Aliu’s claims were backed on Tuesday up by two of his former Rockford teammates, Simon Pepin and Peter MacArthur, in a piece by Seravalli.

Peters was held out of Wednesday night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres due to the Flames’ investigation process.

Earlier in the week, Peters issued his own statement to the Flames’ general manager Brad Treliving, though did not apologize directly to Aliu in the process.

Peters was hired as the head coach of the Flames in April 2018 as the team’s 19th head coach after Glen Gulutzan was fired that spring. In his first season with the Flames in the 2018-19 season, Peters helped the team to a first place finish in the Pacific Division with a 50-25-7 record. Calgary bowed out of the playoffs that year in the first round.

This season, the Flames have been middling in a tough Pacific Division. After Wednesday’s 3-2 win over Buffalo in overtime, the Flames sit at fifth place in the Pacific with a 12-12-4 record. Calls to fire Peters were made before his racists comments were made public due to the team’s lack of offensive scoring and dismal record after finishing in first place in the Pacific just a season ago.