Jukka Jalonen, who coached the Lions to Olympic gold and three world championships, wants to coach in the club team after next season. He considers coaching in the NHL unlikely.
Piloted the Finnish men’s national ice hockey team to three championships Jukka Jalonen said on Monday night that the next season will be his last as the head coach of the Lions. He has been the head coach of the Lions twice, from 2008 to 2013 and again since 2018.
– Isn’t there enough for one person? Let’s have a full year, says Jalonen, 60, reached from summer vacation.
During Jalonen’s tenure, Leijonat also won the first Olympic gold in its history in Beijing.
– Six years is a long time in any job. It always requires a little variation and changes of thought at the individual and organizational level in order to keep things at a high level. It will probably be good for me as well as the union and Leijon that at some point there will be a new commander, says Jalonen.
Jalos has been rumored to continue as the top sports director of the Ice Hockey League after stepping down from the position of head coach, but Jalonen’s plans are not in the league’s hands. In the mind of a meritorious coach, there are challenges beyond the borders of Finland.
– Coaching a club team is something that will interest me in the future. Basically abroad. I’ve long had the NHL as a dream in a way, but it’s very unlikely, as seen with any European coach. I don’t take it so terribly seriously. If there is an opportunity, of course I’ll take it, Jalonen says.
The NHL hasn’t had a European head coach in over 20 years.
– I will probably coach in Europe, but as said, everything is possible.
Jalonen will be able to focus on his own work in his last season as coach of the national team, while his manager is looking into different options.
– I believe that I will be able to coach a team in a year.
Hoping for a passionate follower
Jalonen says that he is not actually choosing his successor, but is happy to participate in surveying the new head coach. Jalose doesn’t have an exact mold in mind, but he appreciates certain features.
– The kind of coach who is passionate, wants to develop himself and knows how to create a good atmosphere in the team with the rest of the management team, which we have also had. You have to understand what the international game today demands from both the individual and the team. It would be great to have a coach like that, Jalonen says.
This year, the World Championships ended with a loss in the quarterfinals, which was a disappointment for Leijon after a period of success.
Jalonen, who has analyzed the highlights of the tournament in recent weeks with the rest of the management team, does not see that anything significant needs to be changed in Finland’s game.
– In many respects, we played better than in the four previous value tournaments. We have been efficient in the past, but now things have turned upside down. We were ineffective in relation to the opponent.