KHL: Dinamo Riga Fires Coach Rautakallio

© RIA Novosti . Aleksandr Vilf / Go to the mediabankPekka Rautakallio
Pekka Rautakallio - Sputnik International
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Pekka Rautakallio has been dismissed from his job as Dinamo Riga coach after a poor run of form that has seen the Latvian KHL team lose seven of its last nine games.

MOSCOW, November 5 (R-Sport) – Pekka Rautakallio has been dismissed from his job as Dinamo Riga coach after a poor run of form that has seen the Latvian KHL team lose seven of its last nine games.

Riga is usually a safe bet for the KHL playoffs but finds itself in unfamiliar territory this season, second to bottom in the Western Conference after winning only eight of its 24 games so far.

"The decision has been taken to free coach Pekka Rautakallio from his duties," said a website statement, referring to the results of a shareholders meeting Monday.

The last straw appears to have been Sunday's 2-0 defeat to Dynamo Minsk on home ice.

Rautakallio’s assistant Artis Abols was named acting coach.

Rautakallio was appointed in April 2011, after the Latvians crashed out of the playoffs losing to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the first round.

The Finn becomes the sixth coach to lose his job in KHL this season. Rautakallio's compatriot Karri Heikkila was fired from his post at Dynamo Minsk last month, replaced by Alexander Andrievsky in a caretaker role.

 

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