ESTERO, Fla. – Florida Everblades’ assistant coach Anthony Peters has been hired as the head coach and general manager of the Reading Royals. This role will be Peters’ first head coaching role in his career.

Peters, 34, joined the Everblades as an assistant coach prior to the 2023-24 season after finishing his playing career. As Brad Ralph’s assistant, Peters helped guide Florida to the 2024 Kelly Cup and the Eastern Conference Finals in 2025. Overall, Peters garnered an 89-38-14-3 record as an assistant with the Everblades. 

“Petey came in and did a phenomenal job learning the position and helping us win our third championship in a row," said Everblades head coach Brad Ralph. "He’s hard working,  dedicated and has a good feel for what the players need - we are happy to see him progress in his coaching journey."

The Blyth, Ontario native played parts of three seasons with the Everblades from 2015-2017, appearing in 100 games for Florida and sporting a record of 60-31-4 in his time with the team. His strongest year was the 2015-16 season, where he went 27-15-2 with a 2.20 goals-against average and a 0.920 save percentage.

After the Everblades, Peters spent two seasons split between the Cincinnati Cyclones and the AHL’s Wilkes/Barre-Scranton Penguins. Following that, he went to Europe for four seasons across four different European countries: Germany, Sweden, Austria, and Slovakia. In 2021-22, he backstopped HC Slovan Bratislava to the Slovakian Extraliga Championship. 

The Florida Everblades begin their search for Ralph’s fourth assistant coach during his Everblades tenure. Peters is the third of Ralph’s assistants to become a head coach in the ECHL after working for the Everblades, following Tad O’Had with the Kansas City Mavericks and Jesse Kallechy with the Fort Wayne Komets.

--

JOIN THE FUN

Season ticket plans for the 2025-26 campaign are on sale now! Become a Blades 365 Member for the 2025-26 season and enjoy incredible savings and benefits! To view the Blades 365 Membership savings, benefits, and options click HERE.

Group Packages are available for a group of 10 or more! Everblades put FUN in FUNdraising! There is no handling of money or tickets and no limit to the amount of money your group can make with the Everblades' easy-to-run online Fundraiser! For more information, or to reserve a Fundraiser Night at an Everblades regular-season home game, call or text (239) 948-7825.

Grab the newest and hottest Everblades merchandise by checking out the entire collection that is available online by visiting shop.floridaeverblades.com or at the Hertz Arena Pro Shop!

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Watch every Florida Everblades game on FloHockey.TV. Listen to the exciting game action on ESPN Southwest Florida on 770 AM, 98.1 FM, 104.3 FM, or online at espnswfl.com. Stay up to date by following the Blades on social media with all the latest news, scores, and promotions on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and X.