The 2024 Ice Hockey World Championship in the Czech Republic is in the past. Sixteen nations had sixteen coaches. Who is paid the most for their hard work? The one who has been the longest in this position. Swiss expert Patrick Fischer had a previous contract for four years with an annual income of 600,000 Swiss francs. His new two-year contract runs until WC 2026 and he will not earn less, he is even supposed to have even more francs. This Poster Boy of hockey in Switzerland wrote his autobiography, “Game Time” in 2021 together with the author Doris Buchel. In it, among other things, he writes: “If we want to move Swiss hockey forward, we need more Swiss coaches in the NL and in the national teams. Because if we take a coach from any foreign country, he will stay with us for ten, maybe fifteen years and then he will go back to Canada, Russia, Sweden or Finland, where he will enjoy a peaceful pension. Nothing wrong with that, I would do the same. But we lose a lot of knowledge with this system. If the Swiss coach between the ages of 55 and 65 is tired of traveling and is in no mood to be fired somewhere again, he returns to his original club and takes a job in youth hockey. There he is under much less pressure and all his experience, knowledge and self-confidence remain in Switzerland. And this is a great benefit for the development of new talent. Unfortunately, this has happened very seldom in Switzerland. Clubs must recognize this chance and absolutely change their thinking in the future.”
The author of this article asked the coaches/managers of the six best European leagues (excluding the KHL) two questions:
1. In the 2023/24 season, the average lifespan of coaches in your league was x years. Is it a good/bad testimonial of managers, or owners or good/bad testimonial of coaches?
2. In the 2023/24 season, there were x domestic coaches in your league. How do you perceive it? Is it good to have as many local coaches as possible in “your” league/national team, because all the knowledge and experience will stay at home?
Note: The leagues are sorted according to the length of life of the coaches. Trainers are listed alphabetically. Where the word “was or spent” is, it means that the coach in the club has already finished. Where the word “has been” is, it means that he is continuing in the club.
The coach of the Swedish national team is local expert Sam Hallam (45). He has a contract from the summer of 2022 until the Winter Olympics in Milan 2026. There are 14 teams participating in the Swedish top league SHL. In the 2023/24 season, there were 17 coaches who had a total of 56 coaching years in current or former clubs.
Cam Abbott (Canada) was at Rögle BK for six years. Charles Berglund spent a year at IF Leksands. Thomas Berglund has been in Luleå HF for seven years. Niklas Eriksson has been in Örebro HK for five years. Martin Filander was at IK Oskarshamn for four years. Roger Hansson spent half a year at Rögle BK. Björn Hellkvist was in IF Leksands for three years. Johan Lindbom spent a year in HV71 Jönköping. Jörgen Jönsson has been in Växjö Lakers for two years. Mattias Karlin has been in MoDo Hockey for three years. Anders Karlsson was in Timrå IK for two years. Tomas Kollar has been with Malmö Redhawks for two years. Tomas Mitell has been in Färjestad BK for two years. Tomas Montén spent half a year in HV71 Jönköping. Robert Ohlsson has been at Skellefteå AIK for three years. Klas Östman has been at HC Linköping for three years. Roger Rönnberg has been HC Frölunda for eleven years.
Speaking for the SHL is Anders Karlsson (55), who was the head coach of Timrå IK from March 2022 to March 2024. In addition, he worked as an assistant in the SHL for six and a half years.
1. The average length of a coach’s life in the SHL is three years and three months. “This is because managers like to build something for the long term. Managers have enough patience with the coaching staff, coaches can calmly work on the development of young players and the playing system for the long-term. This is usually the path of Swedish coaches and therefore they are not recalled as often. Of course, if something no longer works, the clubs will make changes.”
2. There was only one foreign coach on the rotation. “And it is good for the development of our hockey and also for the national team. It makes more sense than employing Americans, Canadians or Finns. The SHL is an excellent league, and domestic coaches grow in it also by being able to lead high-quality foreign players from several nationalities. The federation (SIHA) is responsible for the education of coaches, which also issues licenses for coaches in the SHL. You have to do something every year to keep this pass valid. That’s one thing, and the other way is the one everyone should know – and that’s self-education.”
The coach of the Swiss national team is domestic expert Patrick Fischer (48). He is under contract from December 2015 until the summer of 2026. There are 14 teams in the Swiss top league NL. In the 2023/24 season, there were 16 coaches who had a total of 36.5 coaching years in current or former clubs.
Jan Cadieux has been at HC Servette Geneva for three years. Luca Cereda has been at HC Ambrì-Piotta for seven years. Marc Crawford (Canada) has been at Zürich Lions for one and a half years. Christian Dubé (Canada) spent five years at HC Fribourg-Gottéron. Gerry Fleming (Canada) spent half a year at EHC Kloten. Stefan Hedlund (Sweden) has been with SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers for three years. Josh Holden (Canada) has been a year at HC Davos. Luca Gianiazii has been at HC Lugano for two years. Stefan Mair (Italy) spent half a year at EHC Kloten. Petri Matikainen (Finland) spent less than a year at EHC Biel-Bienne. Thierry Paterlini has been with the Langnau Tigers for two years. Martin Steinegger spent a month at EHC Biel-Bienne. Dan Tangens (Norwegian) has been an EV Zug for six years. Christian Wohlwend has been a year at HC Ajoie. Jussi Tapola (Finland) has been in SC Bern for one year. Geoff Ward (Canada) has been with HC Lausanne for two years.
Speaking for NL is Martin Steinegger (52), who was the sports manager of EHC Biel-Bienne from 2012 to 2016. From 2016 until today, he is the general manager of EHC Biel-Bienne.
1. The average length of a coach’s life in the NL is two years and three months. “We absolutely have both. Very high-quality coaches, and at the same time it turns out that our manager’s patience usually pays off.”
2. There were ten foreigners on the substitution team, which means 63 percent of foreign coaches. “In the National League, the number of Swiss coaches is increasing. Five years ago there were maybe two and now there were six. So the development is definitely positive. We have enough coaches in the youth, but they need time, as long as they are ready to take a step into men’s hockey. This is the question of an entire generation. In my opinion, the job of a hockey coach is very attractive in Switzerland. There are fourteen lucrative places in the NL, and professional coaches started getting involved with the youth already fifteen years ago. Another thing is the strong competition of foreign experts. NL clubs pay very well and top coaches from abroad are very interested in these jobs. Patrick Fischer’s analysis is very good. If the coach is 55 to 65 years old and fed up with the professional business, he will return to the youth, and this is a very valuable service. Our coaches have learned from the federation (SIHF) and it has done a good job.”
The coach of the German national team is domestic expert Harold Kreis (65 years old). He has a contract from November 2022 to summer 2026. There are 14 teams in the German top league DEL. In the 2023/24 season, there were 18 coaches who had a total of 38.5 coaching years in current or former clubs.
Serge Aubin (Canada) has been at Eisbären Berlin for five years. Pierre Beaulieu (Canada) spent a month at the Iserlohn Roosters. Thomas Dolak spent a year at EG Düsseldorf. Dallas Eakins (USA) has been at Adler Mannheim for half a season. Mark French (Canada) has been in the Ingolstadt Panthers for two years. Franz-David Fritzmeier spent three months at Löwen Frankfurt. Christof Kreutzer spent a year at Augsburg Panthers. Uwe Krupp was at Kölner Haie for four years. Johan Lundskog (Sweden) was in Adler Mannheim for three months. Matti Tiilikainen (Finland) spent half a year in Löwen Frankfurt. Tom Pokel (USA) has been with the Straubing Tigers for six and a half years. Thomas Popiesch was with the Fischtown Penguins for eight years. Greg Poss (USA) spent a year with the Iserlohn Roosters. Tom Rowe (USA) was in the Nürnberg Ice Tigers for three years. Doug Shedden (Canada) has been with the Iserlohn Roosters for half a year. Toni Söderholm (Finland) has been a year in Red Bull Munich. Michael Stewart (Canada) has been with Grizzlys Wolfsburg for three years. Steve Walker (Canada) has been a year at Schwenninger Wild Wings.
Christof Kreutzer (57) speaks for DEL. In the 2023/24 season, he was the head coach and sports manager of the Augsburg Panthers. He was a sports manager at Schwenninger Wild Wings for three years. He was the head coach at DEG Düsseldorf for three years.
1. The average length of a coach’s life in DEL is two years and one month. “There are definitely capable coaches in the league and managers have a certain degree of patience. However, starting from the 2021/22 season, direct promotion and relegation have been introduced again in the DEL, which is why coaches are under even more pressure and change more often, because they are always the first to strike. Every club has different expectations. Mannheim still wants to be champion, so you have to be in the top four in the table. Iserlohn, Augsburg or Frankfurt want to be in the top ten, they don’t want to drop out, but if this danger approaches, the organizations will react. A month ago, Kassel wanted to advance unconditionally from DEL2. He won the regular season, but two days before the start of the playoffs, they changed the coach! And in the end they didn’t advance anyway (with Canadian coach Bill Stewart, editor’s note). This is not a good direction at all!”
2. Thirteen foreigners were on the rotation, which means 72 percent of foreign coaches. “We started the season with four German coaches, but for the next season 2024/25 we are counting on only one! That is not good. German coaches do not enjoy enough confidence, because DEL is very North American oriented. There are many overseas managers in it, and club owners unfortunately trust foreigners more than us locals. Meanwhile, Harold Kreis won silver at the 2023 Men’s WC. Thomas Popiesch reached the DEL (2023/24) final with Bremerhaven and Regensburg with Maximilian Kaltenhauser won DEL2 (2023/24). Therefore, we should get more space and have more credit. German hockey will always be close to the hearts of German coaches, more so than foreign coaches. And when a foreigner is already on shift, he should take a German assistant with him. I agree that there won’t be much left of foreign coaches, whether they were successful or not, and vice versa. The German association (DEB) is in charge of training coaches, and their work has been at an excellent level for six or seven years now.”
The coach of the Finnish national team is domestic expert Jukka Jalonen (61). He is contractually bound from the summer of 2018 to the summer of 2024 and will definitely end after the WC in the Czech Republic. There are 15 teams in the Finnish Liiga. In the 2023/24 season, there were 17 coaches who had a total of 29.5 coaching years in current or former clubs.
Risto Dufva was four and a half years in Sport. Rikard Grönborg (Sweden) has been a year in Tappara Tampere. Mikko Heiskanen spent half a year at JYP Jyväskylä. Olli Jokinen was in Jukurit for three years. Ville Hämäläinen spent a year in SaiPa Lappeenranta. Jere Härkälä spent a year in Ässät Pori. Petri Karjalainen has been the year at KalPa Kuopio. Tomi Lämsä has been the year in Lukko Rauma. Matias Lehtonen has been a year at HPK Hämeenlinna. Ville Mäntymaa spent half a year in Kärpät Oulu. Tommi Miettinen has been a year in TPS Turku. Lauri Marjamäki spent one and a half years in Kärpät Oulu. Tommi Niemelä has been with the Lahti Pelicans for four years. Ville Peltonen has been at IFK Helsinki for three years. Antti Pennanen spent a year in Ilves Tampere. Jukka Rautakorpi spent one and a half years in JYP Jyväskylä. Olli Salo was in KooKoo for three years.
Lauri Mikkola (43) speaks for the Finnish Liiga. In the 2023/24 season, he led the Finnish under-20 national team. In the 2021/22 season, he was the manager of Kärpät Oulu. He worked as an assistant in Kärpät Oulu for five years.
1. The average length of a coach’s life in Liiga is one year and seven months. “We have enough quality coaches, but in the last two seasons the managers have thrown several successful coaches overboard anyway. And some of them have already won the domestic Liiga! Dismissals usually occur due to impatience with results. It is true that a decade ago, coaches in the Finnish top flight stayed in their positions longer. Things happen too fast these days.”
2. There was only one foreigner on the switchboard. “Swedish expert Rikard Grönborg won the title with Tappara Tampere and showed us all a different way of playing hockey. Many clubs in the Liiga have played the same defensive system of the game with five players in the middle third for many years, but this year more teams have started to produce active attacking hockey, while the Liiga is getting faster and faster. When there were North American coaches in our league, we tried to take the best from them. And now we also learn from Rikard Grönborg. But it is true that all knowledge will remain in our country forever. The federation (FIHA) participates in the development of coaches in cooperation with some institutions. You can definitely learn a lot there, but still a lot depends on how much you want to work on yourself and where you get your information from.”
The coach of the Czech national team is domestic expert Radim Rulík (59). He has a contract from summer 2023 to summer 2025 with an annual option. There are 14 teams in the Czech extra league. In the 2023/24 season, there were 19 coaches who had 27 years of coaching experience in current or former clubs.
David Bruk was at HC Energie Karlovy Vary for two years. Ladislav Čihák has been a year in Motor České Budějovice. Václav Eismann spent a month at HC Energie Karlovy Vary. Pavel Gross has been a year at HC Sparta Prague. Miloš Holaň was in HC Vítkovice for two and a half years. Jiří Kalous was in BK Mladá Boleslav for two months. Petr Kořínek spent two years at HC Plzeň. Richard Král has been in BK Mladá Boleslav for half a year. Patrik Martinec spent a month in HC Kometa Brno. Tomáš Martinec has been at HK Mountfield Hradec Králové for three years. Karel Mlejnek has been at HC Litvínov for two years. Jaroslav Modrý spent a year in HC Kometa Brno. Zdeněk Moták has been at HC Ocelář Třinec for two years. Filip Pešán has been in the Bílí Tygři Liberec team for a year. Jan Tomajko has been at HC Olomouc for six years. Pavel Trnka spent a year at HC Vítkovice. Otakar Vejvoda spent a year in Rytíř Kladno. Václav Varaďa spent half a year at HC Dynamo Pardubice. Marek Zadina has been a year at HC Dynamo Pardubice.
Jozef Jandač (55) speaks for the Czech Extraliga. He led the Czech national team for two years. He coached Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the KHL for the season. He was the head coach in the Czech Extraliga for thirteen seasons.
1. The average length of a coach’s life in the Czech extra league is one year and four months. “Many foreign coaches work in the NL and DEL, and they are always under more pressure than domestic coaches. It always takes a while for a foreigner to learn the language or assimilate into the local culture. However, if you don’t have results or don’t meet certain requirements, they will replace you. Therefore, I can imagine that foreign coaches change more in the NL and DEL. And now to the Czech Republic, we already have some very experienced managers and they know that just changing the coach doesn’t solve anything. That is only a secondary solution. However, new owners are also on the scene and they can be impatient. In general, the last three or four teams in the table are always and everywhere under pressure. But e.g. here, Kladno was hopelessly last in the extra league four years in a row and they did not change coaches. I don’t think that quality coaches are decreasing, rather the trend today is that there are generally fewer people in risky, unstable jobs (waiter, teacher) and that includes top coaches, because you are under pressure. But there is stability in the youth, there the coaches are finally starting to get a decent monetary reward. This is correct, because they perform a demanding activity.”
2. There was not a single foreigner on the shift! “I really like and appreciate the fact that only Czech coaches work in the Czech extra league. It is also motivation for young domestic coaches who know they have somewhere to move. And if a foreigner is to come, let him occupy the position of assistant, as was the case a year and a half ago in Sparta Prague, where Miloš Hořava took the Swedish expert Hans Wallson with him. Such a person can enrich domestic hockey and spice it up with something. The association and FTVS UK are in charge of training coaches. It’s pretty good and makes some sense, but I don’t think it’s quite the point. Often, guys who have no license go to the shift and take someone with the highest license next to them. And it’s true that in the NHL, which is always a role model, you don’t need a license.”
The coach of the Slovak national team is Canadian expert Craig Ramsay (73 years old). He is contractually bound from the summer of 2017 to the summer of 2024. There are 12 teams in the Slovak extra league. In the 2023/24 season, there were 20 coaches who had a total of 19 coaching years in current or former clubs.
Todd Bjorkstrand (USA) has been at HK Poprad for half a year. Dan Ceman (Canada) has been at HC Košice for two years and two months. Erik Čaládi has been at HC Nové Zámky for half a year. Robert Döme spent five weeks at HK Dukla Trenčín. Juraj Faith has been a year in HK 32 Liptovský Mikuláš. Raimo Helminen (Finland) spent half a year in HC Banská Bystrica. Norbert Javorčík spent a week at HKM Zvolen. Karri Kivi (Finland) spent half a year in HC Nové Zámky. Peter Kúdelka spent a year in HK Dukla Michalovce. Peter Oremus spent three and a half years at HKM Zvolen. Peter Oremus has been at HC Slovan Bratislava for half a year. Ján Pardavý spent a year and a month at HC Slovan Bratislava. Branko Radivojevič spent half a year in HK Dukla Trenčín. Jamie Russel (Canada) spent half a year at HKM Zvolen. Vladimír Růžička (Czech Republic) spent three months in HC Slovan Bratislava. Doug Shedden (Canada) spent a year in HC Banská Bystrica. Antonín Stavjaňa (Czech Republic) spent three and a half years in HK Nitra. Tomek Valtonen (Finland) has been in HK Dukla Michalovce for two months. Aleš Totter (Czech Republic) was in HK Poprad for two months. Vlastimil Wojnar (Czech Republic) spent two years in HK Spišská Nová Ves.
Peter Oremus (53) speaks for the Slovak Extraliga. He was the head coach in the Slovak extra league for twelve seasons. For two and a half years, he headed the substitute team in the Czech extra league. He was an assistant for the Slovak national team at five important tournaments.
1. The average length of a coach’s life in the Slovak extra league is less than one year. “This statistic is bad. Nowadays, in the Slovak extra league, teams are formed during the summer, and the foreign players do not come to the team until August 1st. Actually, only then does the real work of a coach begin. And it is very difficult to prepare the team in some five or six weeks so that they can play at one hundred percent from the beginning. Therefore, I claim that patience and responsibility with coaches should be in every club until the end of the season! After all, the management definitely chooses a coach with the intention of trusting him, and the coach definitely wants to work as best as he can. Therefore, he should have the opportunity to train his charges until the end of the year. Of course, I take it that if there are heated situations and many losses pile up in a row, then a change is necessary. I don’t think this issue has anything to do with money. Each club in the Slovak extra league had seven or eight foreign players in the 2023/24 season, and there were eleven foreign coaches in the league. When we calculate all this, we will reach very decent values in the budgets.”
2. Eleven foreigners were on the rotation, which means 55 percent of foreign coaches. “Rather than foreign coaches, I want to focus on Slovak ones. Tell me one guy in his thirties or forties who has been training here longer in recent years? I don’t see them! There is simply no influx of young Slovak coaches, and that is a big mistake. It will only change when the management includes the Slovak youngster with strong confidence. And if the person in question wants to be successful at club level and develop, only matches will move him forward. But not twenty, fifty or a hundred duels. Four hundred, five hundred or six hundred of them must pass in the extra league! Then he will be interesting for the Slovak national team, because he will become a determined, resilient person with rich experience. Is there a problem at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports in Bratislava? I went from license C, to license B and then to license A. I can only say excellent things about the university. Hockey specialization, pedagogy and psychology. All this enriched me a lot. In my opinion, the combination of school and years of training is alpha and omega, while school must be the basis.”
