In a somber announcement, the Nashville Predators said former associate coach and broadcaster Brent Peterson has passed away at 68. Peterson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2002 and eventually succumbed to the illness.
Although he’s better known for his coaching career, Peterson enjoyed an 11-year playing career from the late 1970s to the late 1980s with the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, and Hartford Whalers. The Red Wings selected Peterson with the 12th overall pick (first round) of the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft.
Despite being a first-round pick of Detroit, Peterson’s best years came with Buffalo. In three and a half years with the Sabres, Peterson scored 43 goals and 106 points in 265 games with a +28 rating, becoming one of the league’s best penalty killers, twice finishing in the top 25 for Selke Trophy voting. The Calgary, AB, native retired after the 1988-89 season, finishing his career with 72 goals and 213 points in 620 contests.
He didn’t stay out of the game for long. Peterson remained with the Whalers for two years after retiring, serving as an assistant coach under head coach Rick Ley. After Ley was fired following the 1990-91 season, Peterson returned to his major junior team, the WHL’s Portland Winter Hawks, as an associate coach. He served two years as associate coach before taking the head coaching position ahead of the 1993-94 season.
In short, Peterson’s tenure as the Winter Hawks head coach was dominant. Portland claimed three division titles in seven years, achieving a .736 winning percentage during the 1997-98 season, which saw the Winter Hawks win both the WHL and Memorial Cup championships.
After his successful season with the Winter Hawks, the newest expansion franchise in Nashville hired Peterson as an assistant coach under Barry Trotz. Despite receiving offers from other teams for head coaching vacancies, Peterson remained with the Predators until the 2010-11 season and returned as a broadcaster from 2014 to 2017.
It’s evident, based on social media reactions alone, that Peterson had an incredibly positive impact on former colleagues, players, and the Nashville community throughout his tenure with the club. We at PHR offer our condolences to Peterson’s former teammates, both those on and off the ice, his friends, and his family.