Peeters hired as goaltending consultant. Update.

By J.P. Hoornstra on July 27, 2009 8:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pete Peeters, who was let go as the Edmonton Oilers' goaltenders coach earlier this month, will assume a similar position as the Ducks' goaltending consultant.

His contract was not renewed by new Oilers coach Pat Quinn on June 30 after six seasons in Edmonton. Recently he had been working with young goaltenders Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers and Devan Dubnyk, who spent last season in the AHL.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Jonas Hiller both flourished under the tutelage of Francois Allaire, who recently defected to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Peeters has no prior history with either Giguere or Hiller and doesn't want to rock the boat.

"I'm following in huge footsteps with Francois Allaire," Peeters said Tuesday. "He was there for a long time and very respected in the field of goaltending. I don't see trying to change anything with J.S. or Jonas. I'll just be there for them. I have to earn their trust first and foremost. I watched them play for a long time. There is no intent of me trying to change their style whatsoever. If they need help at anytime, they'll have somebody to lean on."

The Ducks will notice one big difference between the 51-year-old Peeters and Allaire right away: Peeters still puts on the gear and coaches from between the pipes. In 13 NHL seasons between the pipes, he went 246-155-51 and led the NHL in wins (40) in 1982-83 with the Boston Bruins en route to the Vezina Trophy.

"The amazing thing was when I was just a young guy breaking in Philadelphia, Jacques Plante was 55 or 56 and I remember Bobby Clarke, Reggie Leach, Bill Barber and Rick MacLeish couldn't score on him at that age," Peeters said. "That is how great a goaltender he was. It made me understand that there was so much to the game that even though Jacques wasn't seeing the puck like a young fellow would, the basics and the positioning allowed him to do so much still."

Coincidentally, Quinn was Peeters' head coach for four seasons (1978-82) in Philadelphia, but chose to install Frederic Chabot as goalie coach instead.

For a complete transcript of Peeters' conference call this afternoon, click here.