Avangard has announced the appointment of Milos Riha as the new head coach. The 54-year-old Czech specialist has considerable experience in the KHL Championship, totalling 321 games during spells in charge of Spartak, Atlant and SKA.

The high point of Riha’s KHL career came in 2011, when he guided Atlant all the way to the Gagarin Cup final having arrived at the club in midseason. In taking the helm at Avangard, Riha fills the vacancy left by Petri Matikainen, who was fired on Tuesday following the team’s poor start to the season.