Tom Pokel appointed as new head coach of Italy

18 Jan 2013 | Davide Tuniz

American coach will lead the Blue Team at Olympic Qualifications and IHWC Division I in Budapest

With a short press release, Italian Federation announced the appointment of American Tom Pokel as new National Team coach. Current Alleghe coach, Pokel, 46, replaces Canadian Rick Cornacchia, since 2008 on Italy bench. Pokel's first commitment will be the Olympic Qualification in February, where Italy will face Austria, Germany and The Netherlands for a place at Sochi 2014.

This is the first experience as national team head coach for Pokel, previously on Austria U18 and The Netherlands bench as assistant

Relevant links

Current events

Tweets by @eurohockey

Leagues

Czech Rep.: Tipsport extraliga | 1.liga | 2.liga

Finland: Liiga | Mestis

Germany: DEL | DEL2

Russia: KHL | VHL

Slovakia: Tipsport Extraliga | 1.liga

Sweden: SHL | HockeyAllsvenskan

Switzerland: NLA | NLB

More league pages»

League standings

Game fixtures

League leaders

How one Georgian family built a national ice hockey league

Despite material disadvantages, Georgia's hockey team is moving up the charts. Read more»

Champions Hockey League (CHL) - Game Day 5 Review

The 9 and 10 October saw Game Day 5, the penultimate round of the group stage this year's Champions Hockey League. Each team played the first of a back to back meeting with the same opponent as the group stage of ... Read more»