PRAGUE – The Czech Ice Hockey Association announced that Alois Hadamczik will become new national team coach after the 2010 IIHF World Championship. He will take over from Vladimir Ruzicka.

Nine out of ten executive committee members voted in favour of Hadamczik, who led the team from 2005 to 2008. He will sign a two-year contract.

Hadamczik is the last coach who brought home a medal in international competition when he led the Czechs to the Olympic bronze and World Championship silver in 2006. In the two following years the team lost in two World Championship quarterfinals before Hadamczik resigned.

Already after the 2010 Olympics it became clear that Ruzicka and the Czech Ice Hockey Association would part ways as Ruzicka will focus on his job as a general manager and coach of Slavia Prague.

The association’s president Tomas Kral announced that the new coach will not be involved in other coaching duties, which means Hadamczik will leave Vitkovice Ostrava, the Czech club he led to the final this year.