KHL, a Finnish coaches colony

22 Apr 2011 | Davide Tuniz

After a positive season of Raimo Summanen at Avangard Omsk and Kari Heikkilä with Ak Bars Kazan, in next season another three benches in KHL will speak Finnish.

"We liked the way Finnish coaches worked this season in KHL, so we decided to hire Jortikka" said Amur Khabarovsk vice-president Andrei Popugaev who officially confirmed the signing of former Jokerit coach Hannu Jortikka - fired in December by the Helsinki team - to a one year contract with the team from a remote corner of Russia.

Some hours before, on the opposite side of the country, Dinamo Riga finally announced the new mentor to replace Julius Šupler: former Ässat Pori head coach Pekka Rautakallio, eliminated in playoffs quarter finals after a very positive regular season. Two new signings add up to the Kari Jalonen one, from SM-Liiga champion HIFK Helsinki, announced in last weeks by Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod.

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