Photo: Chris Tanouye/Getty Images
The Colorado Avalanche have hired Jussi Ahokas as head coach of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Colorado Eagles.
Ahokas, 45, joins the Eagles after three seasons as head coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Kitchener Rangers, a tenure that culminated in a Memorial Cup championship in 2025-26. Ahokas was also named the OHL’s coach of the year in 2024-25.
Ahokas was one of the most decorated coaches in European pro hockey during his 20 years behind the bench in his native Finland. He coached the Finnish junior teams for 15 seasons, including seven years as a national team head coach at the U-16 through U-20 levels. Ahokas helped Finland capture gold medals at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship and the 2016 IIHF World U-18 Championship.
Ahokas also spent four seasons in Finland’s top professional league as head coach of KooKoo (2019-21) and TPS (2021-23), earning league coach of the year honors in 2019-20.
