The well-known in Europe coach of the Jokerit hockey club, Jukka Jalonen, can hardly boast of a hockey career - for less than 15 years, there were only two local clubs on the Finnish team list - UIP and Akhmat Hyvinkäa. Nevertheless, failure on the ice was replaced by loud successes in the leadership of hockey players.
Coaching Samples
Jukka Jalonen began his career as a team coach at the helm of the Finnish COD, before which he went through the thorny path of the coach of the Finnish youth team, as well as the British club Newcastle and the Italian Alleghe. In 2001, a 39-year-old ex-hockey player, little known to fans, was invited to train COD.
The first run at Jukka Jalonen was more than successful - according to the results of the championship, he lost only one point to the triumph - “Tappare”, and in the playoffs, losing in the semifinals to the future winner of the tournament, “Jokerit”, he was able to win the fight for “bronze”. A year later, the wards of the Finnish specialist improved the result - COD again took the bronze medals of the playoffs, this time becoming the best team in the regular championship.
Finnish victor
In 2008, Jukka Jalonen was invited to become the coach of the Finnish national team, and the coach, who decided to try his hand at the international arena, accepted this challenge. The pre-Olympic World Cup of 2009 was the first major competition for the Finnish team, and the White and Blue could not demonstrate their class - confidently taking first place in the group, already at the quarter-final stage the wards of Yalonen lost to the USA, completing their performance at the tournament.
The Finns were able to rehabilitate for failure the very next year - following the results of the hockey tournament at the Olympics in Vancouver, the team won third place, again losing in the US semifinals, but confidently defeating Slovakia in the match for “bronze”. The triumph of Jukki Jalonen as a national team coach took place in 2011. Having easily made their way into the playoffs of the World Cup in Slovakia, the Finns left no chance to any of the rivals. Having defeated Norway at the quarterfinal stage, the Finnish hockey players carried out two routs in a row, defeating Russia and Sweden, becoming world champions for the second time in history. 2012 was not so rosy for Yalonen, and Yucca left his post after the World Cup.
Business trip to Russia
In 2012, Jukka Jalonen decided on a new challenge in his career and agreed to an offer from Russia - SKA from St. Petersburg needed resuscitation, and the Finnish mentor had to rebuild the team, which he managed in just a year. “CSKA” in the same year were able to win first place in the league, in the playoffs only in a bitter struggle with the Moscow “Dynamo” won the “bronze” of the playoffs.
A year later, the fans expected SKA to perform no less successfully, and the game of the Finnish wards helped them count on it. But, having become only the second in the Western division, this time the “CSKA” could not even make it to the semifinals, losing to Lokomotiv, as a result of which, according to the results of the championship, Yalonen left the location of the St. Petersburg team.
"Jokerit"
After leaving St. Petersburg SKA, Jukka Jalonen decided to return to his homeland and accepted the invitation of the Finnish Hockey Federation to lead the country's youth team. An experienced mentor brought a lot of useful “youth team”, which without any problems sorted out with competitors at the World Youth Championship 2016 at the home championship. Of the 7 matches, the youth of Finland lost only one, losing in the group stage to the Russian team, taking revenge already in the final of the competition. Under Jukka Jalonen, the Finns demonstrated a speedy and confident game, thanks to which they became the most productive team of the tournament.
After a tremendous triumph, the former Finnish hockey player decided to return to club activities and considered a number of proposals from various teams. Among the many options, Jalonen chose the most comfortable for himself by signing a contract with HC Jokerit. It was customary for a Finnish specialist to play in the KHL, and thanks to the Finnish roots of the team, Jukka could confidently count on serious support in his native stands, including due to his merits.
The return to the main European league was unsuccessful for Jalonen - according to the results of the regular season, the Finnish club was only in 12th place, and in the playoffs it could not cause the slightest problems for the capital CSKA, losing with a total score of 0: 4. The second season began for the eminent coach much more successfully - according to the results of the first half HC “Jokerit” is second only to the former team of Jukka Yalonen - St. Petersburg SKA.