"It's an exciting opportunity for my family and myself, both personally and professionally. It's an opportunity to come home, being from Alberta, being a Canadian and coming into a great situation with a passionate fan base and a real good team, a real good roster.
"For me, there's 31, possibly going to be 32 teams in the league and only seven teams located in Canada and six original franchises, so when you're in one of those markets, there's a different feel and a different buzz. I think as an athlete and as a coach, you appreciate that. You appreciate that energy and passion for the game, so I'm looking forward to that."
Flames GM Brad Treliving worked with Peters at the 2016 world hockey championship and said he knew he was the man for the job.
"This is an individual that I'm familiar with," he said. "This was an individual that once we made a change, that I was focused upon. That's not to be reckless or not look or talk to and interview a number of candidates. I was very familiar with the field out there. There are some great candidates. I was focused on Bill.
"He's prepared. He's a student of the modern game. I think he's relationship-driven with players. He's honest and direct. I think that, as you'll quickly come to realize, he'll be a tremendous addition to our staff."
Peters spent the past four seasons as head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, before opting out of his deal on April 20.
"The biggest thing in Carolina - and I appreciate my time there and the people and Ron Francis and Peter Karmanos and Tom Dundon and everyone I worked with - I just thought at the end of the day, every time I looked at that situation with a new owner and GM coming in, they needed the opportunity to hire their own coach," Peters explained. "Once we came to grips that that decision was going to be made, I went in and resigned on a Friday morning. It was on to the next phase. I'm lucky that we were able to get it done quickly and I think it's a real good fit."
The Three Hills, Alta., native began his career in the WHL working for the Spokane Chiefs as an assistant coachin 1996. It wasn't until 2005 that he was assigned the head coaching duties. His team improved each year under his stead and in 2008 they won the Memorial Cup with a victory over the Kitchener Rangers.
After a three-year stint in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs, Peters joined the NHL coaching ranks as an assistant with the Detroit Red Wings under the tutelage of Mike Babcock before moving on to Carolina.
Peters will be Team Canada's head coach at the 2018 IIHF World Hockey Championship in Denmark next month.
"Going over to represent Canada in Denmark is an opportunity to get better," said Peters. "Learn a little bit and see if you can pick some things up in the international game that you can translate into North America on the two-hundred by eighty-five."
