Kari Jalonen (born January 6, 1960) 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 ...

professional

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 h ...

coach and former player. Currently he is the head coach of Czech national team. He is not related to Finnish ice hockey coach Jukka Jalonen.

Playing career

A product of

Oulun Kärpät Oulun Kärpät (Finnish for "Oulu Ermines", sometimes referred to as Kärpät Oulu) is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Oulu and playing in the top-tier Finnish Liiga. Kärpät have won the Finnish championship title eight times, ...

, Jalonen played parts of two seasons (82-83, 83-84) at the NHL level, with the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

and

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

. He made a total of 37 NHL appearances. He is best known for his time in the

SM-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 ...

, but also had stints in Sweden ( Skellefteå HC) and France ( Dragons de Rouen). Jalonen represented Finland internationally on nine occasions, including with the silver medal-winning 1980 World Juniors team and the bronze medal-winning 1986 European Championship team.

Coaching career

After his playing career, Jalonen embarked on a career in coaching. Jalonen has coached successful

teams TPS, Kärpät and HIFK. He has won four Finnish national championships as a head coach: three with Kärpät and one with HIFK. Jalonen also played for HIFK during his playing career. He received Liiga Coach of the Year honors in 2005 and 2007. Jalonen started as the head coach of

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (russian: Торпедо Нижний Новгород) is a professional ice hockey club in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League. The team's home arena is Trad ...

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 ...

from the beginning of the 2011–12 season and parted ways with the club during the 2012–13 season. During the 2013–14 season he took over as head coach of fellow KHL team Lev Praha and guided the side to the

Gagarin Cup The Gagarin Cup (russian: Кубок Гагарина, Kubok Gagarina) is the trophy presented to the winner of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) playoffs, and is named after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. The Cup was ...

finals, losing to

Metallurg Magnitogorsk Metallurg Magnitogorsk (russian: Металлург Магнитогорск) is a professional ice hockey team based in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. They are members of the Kharlamov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League. They ...

in seven games. He was appointed head coach of Finland's national team in 2014. In April 2016, he was named head coach of SC Bern of the Swiss top-flight

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league h ...

(NLA). He guided the Finnish national team to a silver medal at the

2016 IIHF World Championship The 2016 IIHF World Championship was the 80th such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), being held from 6 to 22 May 2016 in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia. Canada entered the tournament as the defending 2015 ...

s in Russia before stepping aside to take on the Bern job. He guided Bern to the Swiss championship in his first year in charge (2017) and also in 2019. On January 28, 2020, Jalonen was fired by SC Bern, following bad results. Hans Kossmann took over at the helm of the team. Bern was ranked 9th in the Swiss championship when Jalonen was sacked. In March 2022, Jalonen signed a head coaching contract with the Czech national team until May 2024. Jalonen accepted a two-year contract to coach the Finnish U20 national team, covering the

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and

2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's f ...

IIHF U20 world championships.

Awards and titles

As a player

SM-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 ...

champion,

Kanada-malja The Kanada-malja is an ice hockey club championship trophy, awarded annually to the winner of the Finnish Liiga playoffs. Kanada-malja is Finnish for "Canada Bowl"; the trophy is so named because it was donated by Canada's Finnish community in 19 ...

: 1988–89, 1989–90,

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

* SM-Liiga silver: 1986–87 * SM-Liiga bronze: 1979–80, 1983–84, 1988–89, 1993–94 * Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy winner: 1979 * Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy winner: 1987 * SM-liiga First All-Star Team: 1987, 1989 *

IIHF European Cup The IIHF European Cup, also known as the Europa Cup, was a European ice hockey club competition for champions of national leagues which was contested between 1965 and 1997, governed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). History The co ...

silver: 1989–90 *

Ligue Magnus The Ligue Magnus, currently known as Synerglace Ligue Magnus for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's division of the French ice hockey pyramid, established in 1906. The league operated under a variety of names before taking that of its champio ...

champion: 1994–95 * Six Nations Tournament champion: 1995–96 * Ligue Magnus silver: 1995–96

As a coach

* SM-Liiga champion,

: 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01 (as assistant coach). 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

(as head coach) *

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 ...

winner: 2005, 2007 *

silver: 2013–14 (as head coach) * Silver medal at IIHF World U20 Championships: 2001 (as head coach) * Silver medal at

IIHF World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

(as head coach) * Bronze medal at

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(as head coach) *

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

champion: 2016–17, 2018-2019 (as head coach)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jalonen, Kari 1960 births Calgary Flames players Colorado Flames players Edmonton Oilers players Finland men's national ice hockey team coaches Finnish ice hockey centres Living people Sportspeople from Oulu Rouen HE 76 players Finnish ice hockey coaches SC Bern coaches Undrafted National Hockey League players Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team coaches