Lethbridge Hurricanes name Matt Anholt head coach

Lethbridge Hurricanes GM Peter Anholt announced Wednesday that the club's new coach will be Matt Anholt, his son.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes didn't have to look far for their next head coach.
The WHL club announced Wednesday that associate head coach Matt Anholt has been named the 16th head coach in team history.
Matt Anholt has spent the last seven years with the canes.
He started out as a skills coach before coming the associate head coach and assistant general manger.
Now he'll be the bench boss for the first time in his coaching career.
'I've been here now for seven years. I know how much this community cares about the team. And I couldn't be more honored to be here today, but especially in that way that I know the players here. I've been fortunate enough to be a big part of helping draft some of the players today, trade for some of the players,' said Anholt.
Anholt is the first Hurricanes head coach to be promoted from an assistant.
He says he's been able to learn from former head coaches Brent Kisio and Bill Peters.
But he's ready to put his stamp on the team.
'Not that we didn't do it before at all before, we did a tonne of this sort of stuff, but I think in the new age, with the NCAA change I think skill development is going to be even more so at the forefront and we need to take a little time to understand how important it is for these kids,' said Anholt.
Matt will now be working directly under his dad, Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt.
Peter had zeroed in on his son early in the coaching search.
He says the familial connection wasn't a factor and he's simply the best person for the job.
'Any hire you make there's always the naysayers; there's the optics of this and that. Ultimately, I know the new coach coming in pretty good,' said Peter.
Assistant coach Ryan Aasman will return to Anholt's staff this season.
Joining the new coach is assistant Torrin White and goaltending coach Matt Weniger.
It will be a younger coaching staff than in years past, which Peter Anholt feels will better position the Hurricanes to deal with the evolving junior hockey landscape.
'There's lots of good older coaches that would've been a fit here too. But ultimately my plan was to go this route.'
The Hurricanes open their season at home September 19 against the Calgary Hitmen.

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Toronto Raptors select Collin Murray-Boyles ninth overall in NBA Draft

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Toronto Raptors select Collin Murray-Boyles ninth overall in NBA Draft

Collin Murray-Boyles poses for a photo with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected ninth by the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Collin Murray-Boyles shook his head when his name was called at the NBA Draft, appearing to let out a curse word. But Murray-Boyles said he wasn't disappointed, just in disbelief when the Toronto Raptors selected him ninth overall on Wednesday and quickly cleared the air when he spoke with media shortly after. 'What I said was not a bad thing by any means," laughed Murray-Boyles, noting that Toronto was the first team he had worked out for after declaring for the draft. "I'm just very thankful for it. That was a surreal moment to hear my name called by this organization that has a good history and have really good players right now. "It was a crazy moment. Obviously, thankful for the opportunity that they're giving me and taking it full on and ready to do whatever it takes and whatever they need me to do." General manager Bobby Webster said he didn't interpret Murray-Boyles's initial reaction to being drafted by the Raptors as a sign the 20-year-old was disappointed to be headed to Toronto. "A lot of teams will tell the players that they are getting picked, (but we don't) so I don't think he knew," said Webster. "I think it was truly a reaction to it happening." Added Webster with a laugh: "Maybe we should leak it to them. He knew we had interest." Murray-Boyles averaged 16.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists over 32 games last season as a sophomore forward for the South Carolina Gamecocks. He averaged 10.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists as a freshman, starting in 19 games and playing in nine others. "Something I bring to the team is my physicality and my willingness to do whatever the coach needs me to do," said Murray-Boyles in a video conference call from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. "Something with me is I've been a role player, I've been a guy coming off the bench and I've been the guy. I've had it all. "Whatever the coach needs me to do, especially early on, I'm just trying to find my role as quick as possible and help the team win." Murray-Boyles was named to the Southeastern Conference's All-Freshman Team in 2024 and was on the second-team All-SEC team this year. He built his reputation as a stalwart defender, averaging a steal and a block per game in his first year of U.S. collegiate basketball, then 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game this past season. "It's hard to be productive as a rookie," said Webster. "I do think the one thing that gets you on the court as a rookie is your defence, and so I think that gives him a leg up." One of Murray-Boyles's main takeaways from that initial workout with the Raptors was that they want to win now. "That's something that I feel like I could be doing for them," he said. "The physicality that they wanted, and the defensive mentality that they wanted. "Wanted to build a new identity with that, and I feel like I'm somebody that can fulfil that and my defensive prowess and just how hard I play." Duke University forward Cooper Flagg was taken first overall by the Dallas Mavericks. The Raptors finished the season with a 30-52 record, seventh worst in the league. Toronto dropped down to the ninth overall pick in the draft lottery, however. Webster said that because the Raptors were one of the few teams willing to trade their pick there were a lot of rumours swirling around them, even though no deal materialized. "That's probably where a lot of the noise came from," said Webster at OVO Athletic Centre, Toronto's training facility. "So we had a lot of those discussions because of that. "I think some people thought it was sort of a seven- or eight-player draft so the draft really started with us. A lot of teams that were trying to move into the draft, they felt like right around where we were is where it kind of was unknown." The Raptors also have the 39th overall pick, which will be selected on Thursday in the second round of the NBA Draft. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2025. John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press