Jussi Tapola (born June 13, 1974) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

coach. He was the head coach for

Kunlun Red Star HC Kunlun Red Star () is a Chinese ice hockey club that joined the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) prior to the 2016–17 season. History Preparation of the team In March 2016, representatives of Kunlun Red Star and the KHL signed a protocol o ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

of the

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...

Career

Tapola spent his playing days in Finnish lower leagues, mostly turning out for Ahmat Hyvinkää. From 2004 to 2009, he worked as a youth coach at

HPK Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK) is a professional ice hockey team in the Liiga, the top men's ice hockey league in Finland. Their home ice is the Ritari-areena in Hämeenlinna. HPK was established in 1929. The parent club of the team is HPK Edu ...

and was promoted to assistant of the club’s Liiga squad prior to the 2009-10 season. He then served as head coach of Finland’s junior-national teams until 2012. He joined the coaching staff of Liiga side

Tappara Tappara (; Finnish for "Battle axe") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the Liiga. They play at ''Tampere Deck Arena'' in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 18 Finnish league championships (1959, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, ...

as an assistant ahead of the 2012-13 campaign and was handed head coaching duties in 2014. As a first-year head coach, he guided the team to the 2015 Liiga finals, where they lost. The following year, Tapola was named the

Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

Coach of the Year after claiming the title with Tappara. After his time in Tappara, Tapola headed to China's team Kunlun who plays in KHL.

Achievements

* 2016: Finnish national champion (as head coach) * 2016:

Kalevi Numminen Trophy The Kalevi Numminen trophy is an ice hockey award given by the Finnish Liiga to the best coach of the season. In 2019 it was awarded to Antti Pennanen of HPK. Trophy Winners: 1977-78: Kari Mäkinen (Ässät) 1978-79: Veli-Pekka Roiha (Reipas La ...

(

Coach of the Year)

References

External links

Jussi Tapola's profile at Eliteprospects.com
* 1974 births Living people Finnish ice hockey coaches People from Kerava Sportspeople from Uusimaa {{Finland-icehockey-bio-stub