Former Flames, Hurricanes coach Bill Peters lands in KHL

Former Calgary Flames and Carolina Hurricanes bench boss Bill Peters has signed a two-year deal to become the head coach of the KHL's Avtomobilist, the league announced Wednesday.

Peters was forced to resign from his post with the Flames earlier this season after he was accused of using racial slurs toward Nigerian-born Akim Aliu while the two were members of the AHL's Rockford IceHogs 10 years earlier. He eventually apologized for using "offensive language."

Rod Brind'Amour, Peters' assistant coach in Carolina, also confirmed that Peters kicked one of his players in the back of the head.

"I think as time goes on we all grow and improve and become better versions of ourselves, and I'm no different than that," Peters said on a video conference Wednesday morning, according to Postmedia's Wes Gilbertson.

Peters made the playoffs once during six years as an NHL head coach, bowing out in the first round with the Flames last season.

Pavel Datsyuk, whom Peters knows from his days as an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings, is on Avtomobilist. So, too, is Nigel Dawes, a Canadian-born winger of Jamaican descent.