Peter Anholt won his second WHL Executive of the Year award in his five full years as the Hurricanes' general manager. (Twitter/Western Hockey League)

By Jeff D'Andrea

P.A.'s P.A.

Prince Albert’s Peter Anholt wins WHL Executive of the Year award

May 8, 2020 | 10:51 AM

In just five full seasons as the general manager for the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Peter Anholt is already celebrating his second award.

For the second time, Anholt received the Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy for WHL Executive of the Year. Anholt also received the honour in the 2015-16 season — his first full season as the Hurricanes’ general manager.

Despite making some big additions and losing five of their top six scorers last season in Nick Henry, Jordy Bellerive, Jake Leschyshyn, Jake Elmer, and Taylor Ross, Anholt was still able to get the Hurricanes to a 37-19-2-5 record, good for third place in the WHL Central Division.

To supplement stars like Dylan Cozens and Calen Addison, Anholt added Slovakian forward Oliver Okuliar in the CHL Import Draft, 49^th overall in the first round. Okuliar turned out to be a dynamic forward, scoring 33 goals and 68 points in 55 games for the Hurricanes, and finished second on the team in scoring behind only Cozens.

In Anholt’s second draft as general manager, he and his scouting staff selected defenceman Alex Cotton in the fifth round, 99^th overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft. Despite being a late-round pick, Cotton ended up leading the WHL in scoring by a defenceman with 67 points in 63 games, including 20 goals in his 19-year-old season.

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Anholt also added Brett Davis and Dino Kambeitz to his roster this year to help round out the Hurricanes’ scoring prowess.

Anholt played three years with the Prince Albert Raiders in the team’s SJHL days from 1978-81, and also served as the team’s director of hockey operations, head coach and assistant coach in two separate stints from 1986-89 and 2002-07. Anholt’s been with the Hurricanes since 2014 when he was hired on as the team’s assistant general manager, then became the general manager as a midseason replacement.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW