Hurricanes Name Matt Anholt Head Coach, Announce 2025-2026 Coaching Staff
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes Hockey Club have announced that Matt Anholt has been named the 16th Head Coach in team history while also announcing the entire 2025-2026 coaching staff including the return of Ryan Aasman and the additions of Torrin White and Matt Weninger.
“I’m really excited and really honoured to follow in the footsteps of Brent Kisio and Bill Peters and a lot of good coaches before Brent. It’s just outstanding and what a time for our organization to turn the page after a really good season and it’s exciting,” said Matt Anholt. “I’ve been able to work with a lot of great coaches here and with Hockey Canada and I’ve been able to learn and steal a lot.”
Anholt, 31, takes over for Bill Peters who elected not to renew his contract before signing a professional coaching contract with the Augsburger Panther of the DEL in Germany. The Prince Albert, SK, product has spent the last seven seasons as a member of the Hurricanes coaching staff, most recently serving as the Associate Head Coach and Assistant General Manager. He began with the ‘Canes during the 2018-2019 season as a Skills & Development Coach before being promoted to Assistant Coach in 2020-2021. He added the Assistant General Manager title in 2021-2022.
During his time in a coaching capacity with the Hurricanes, Lethbridge has qualified for the post-season in all six years that the playoffs were held including helping the team to the Eastern Conference Championship Series this past season. Anholt was instrumental in the ‘Canes ending the 2024-2025 season as the fourth-best defensive team while also holding the best penalty kill (82.5%) during the regular season in the Western Hockey League. Internationally, he has represented Canada on two occasions serving as an Assistant Coach in 2024 and 2025 at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge helping team Canada Red to a Silver Medal during the 2025 tournament.
“We are very fortunate to have really good coaches, really good staff members and really good players to work with [in Lethbridge] and we just want to come to the rink every day and find a way to get better that day and have fun doing it,” added Anholt. “Skill and development is going to be really important for our staff and patience to help our players reach their goals.”
Anholt joined the Hurricanes coaching staff in 2018 following a playing career that spanned four seasons at the University of Alaska-Anchorage (NCAA) where he served as captain for his final two seasons while also spending one season as an alternate captain. Anholt appeared in 103 regular season NCAA games totaling 53 points (14g-39a) along with 62 penalty minutes. Prior to his NCAA career, he spent two seasons with the West Kelowna Warriors of the British Columbia Hockey League skating in 113 regular season games amassing 79 points (26g-53a) along with 76 penalty minutes while adding 11 points (5g-6a) along with 15 penalty minutes in an additional 16 playoff games. He served as captain of the Warriors in his final season in 2013-2014.
“It’s very rare that a General Manager hires his son as the head coach, but when all things being equal with the experience Matt has had here as part of our staff under good coaches like Brent and Bill, and the succession plan, but more importantly, that he’s ready and capable to take over, it’s a natural fit,” said Hurricanes General Manager Peter Anholt. “We’ve been fortunate to build a strong culture with our organization over the years and Matt has had a strong part in that while being able to continue with the continuity of our staff with our team at every level and we feel that Matt taking over as the head coach helps with our transition to the next phase of our organization.”
Aasman, 33, returns as an Assistant Coach. The 2025-2026 season will mark his fifth year with the Hurricanes after he was originally hired as the ‘Canes Video Coach in 2021-2022. He was promoted to Assistant Coach in 2023, a role he has held for the past three seasons. The Medicine Hat, AB, product will shift to coach the defencemen after spending the last three seasons running the forward group.
Prior to joining the Hurricanes, Aasman served as the head coach of the Calgary Northstars U18 AAA team after one year with the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Grande Prairie Storm where he served as Interim Head Coach. He also has spent time as an Assistant Coach with the Lethbridge Golden Hawks U15 AAA team and the Lethbridge Hurricanes U18 AAA team. Following his junior career that included time in the WHL and the AJHL, he spent four seasons playing with the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
White, 30, joins the Hurricanes as an Assistant Coach after spending the 2024-2025 season as the General Manager and Head Coach of the Princeton Posse of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Under his guidance, White led the Posse to a 33-7-3-1 record finishing atop their division during the regular season while finishing second in the regular season standings before falling in the second round of the KIJHL playoffs.
Prior to his time with the Princeton, White served as head coach with the Southern Alberta Hockey Academy (SAHA) at the U17 level following three seasons and an assistant coach of the SAHA U18 Prep team. White also spent three seasons as a scout with the Moose Jaw Warriors from 2021 until 2024.
The Medicine Hat, AB, product began coaching following a playing career that spanned four seasons with the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns from 2016 until 2020 where he appeared in 88 regular season games totaling 42 points (21g-21a) along with 89 penalty minutes while also appearing in two post-season games with the Pronghorns. White also skated in 251 regular season WHL games over parts of six seasons totaling 110 points (50g-60a) along with 97 penalty minutes with the Moose Jaw Warriors before spending his overage season with the Langley Rivermen of the BCHL.
Weninger, 36, will join the Hurricanes as Goaltending Coach. The Lethbridge, AB, product has spent the past seven seasons as the Goaltending Coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors where he was a part of their 2024 WHL Championship. He previously spent three seasons as Goaltending Coach of the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns and two seasons with the Yorkton Terriers in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. He also served as Goaltending Coach for Hockey Canada at the 2021 World U18 Championships.
Prior to shifting to coaching, Weninger spent three seasons as a goaltender in the SJHL spending time with the Kindersley Klippers and Flin Flon Bombers from 2008 until 2010. He then spent four seasons with St. Lawrence University in the NCAA from 2010 until 2014 where he appeared in 132 regular season games amassing a record of 51-63-14 with a 2.96 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.
“We are very excited to add Torrin [White] and Matt [Weninger] to our coaching staff to work along with Matt [Anholt] and Ryan [Aasman],” added ‘Canes General Manager Peter Anholt. “Their familiarity with the City of Lethbridge with Torrin, and of course Ryan, having played here at the University while Matt [Weninger] growing up here and playing his minor hockey in the City is a huge asset for us; and their resumes and experience both as players and coaches, we feel will fit well with our hockey staff.”
The Hurricanes will open their 2025 Training Camp on Thursday, August 28th with Rookie Camp before Main Camp opens on Saturday, August 30th at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena. A full Training Camp schedule will be announced at a later date.
The ‘Canes will also open their five-game pre-season schedule on Tuesday, September 2nd at 7:00pm when they welcome the Calgary Hitmen to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena before opening the 2025-2026 regular season on Friday, September 19th with the Dairy Queen Home Opener against the Hitmen.
Season Tickets for the 2025-2026 regular season are now on sale with Loyalty Pricing available until July 2nd. Premium Season Tickets are also available for an additional $250 per seat. Season Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Yates Memorial Theatre and VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.
