Robert H. Peters (October 6, 1937 – December 14, 2021) was a Canadian men's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

coach. He was the head coach of the Bemidji State University

team from 1967 to 2001. With 702 wins, he ranks fifth all-time in career wins by a men's college ice hockey coach.

Coaching history

Peters entered the college hockey head coaching ranks in 1964 as bench boss at the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of N ...

. During his initial campaign, Peters, the eventual

Western Collegiate Hockey Association The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

Coach of the Year, led the Fighting Sioux to a WCHA title and a third-place finish at the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Championships. He coached in

Grand Forks Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

for two seasons, leading the Sioux to a 42–20–1 mark before making a career decision that would change the face of collegiate hockey. Peters left the Division I powerhouse in 1966 and took over at Bemidji State University. Within two seasons Peters led BSU to its first national championship and set the foundation for what would become one of the most dominant programs in college hockey. Thirty-five years later, Peters retired from coaching with one of the most impressive lists of achievements in the history of collegiate sports: 744 victories as a head coach, 702 coming at Bemidji State alone, to make Peters the first coach to win 700 or more games at a single school; 13 small-college national championships; and still-standing national collegiate records for most wins in an unbeaten season (31–0–0 in 1983–'84) and longest unbeaten streak (43 games from Nov. 8, 1983 to Jan. 1, 1985). Peters, the only coach to lead a team to a national championship game in three divisions of college hockey and the only coach to reach the Final Four in all four divisions (Division I, II, III and NAIA), developed five NHL players and numerous Olympians and All-Americans. A 1960 graduate of the University of North Dakota, Peters spent his collegiate days at goaltender for the Fighting Sioux. He coached at the high school level for one season before rejoining the UND staff as an assistant coach.

CHA commissioner

Retired from coaching, Peters remained heavily involved in the sport of college hockey. In 2001 he became the commissioner of the College Hockey America (CHA) conference. In addition to appointing Peters CHA Commissioner, the athletic directors of the league's member institutions approved the recommendation by the coaches to name the regular-season championship trophy in honor of Peters as the R.H. "Bob" Peters Cup.

Contributions to college hockey

Peters' influence on college hockey also has stretched outside the arena. He has proven his administrative skills at Bemidji State by serving as athletic director and head hockey coach, and he lent service to several committees. Under Peters' guidance, BSU hockey progressed from NAIA to NCAA Division III to NCAA Division II, and in 1999, BSU elevated its hockey program to Division I. He served on championship committees for the NAIA and NCAA for over 20 years, and in 2001 was named a Hobey Baker Legend of Hockey.

Personal life

Peters died in

Bemidji, Minnesota Bemidji ( ) is a city and the county seat of Beltrami County, in northern Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,574 at the 2020 census. According to 2021 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 15,279, making i ...

on December 14, 2021, at the age of 84.

Career statistics

Head coaching record

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Bob 1937 births 2021 deaths Ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey coaches North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey players North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey coaches Bemidji State Beavers men's ice hockey coaches Ice hockey people from Ontario People from Fort Frances