Lauri Marjamäki (born May 29, 1977) is a Finnish

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

who currently serves as head coach of

EHC Kloten EHC Kloten is an ice hockey team based in the city of Kloten in Switzerland. The team plays in the National League (NL). It has one of the best youth systems in Swiss ice hockey as its youth teams have won 19 championships during the last 50 year ...

of the

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and the highest level 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 ...

, a position he has held since 2022. He previously served as head coach of the Finnish national ice hockey team, and of the

Espoo Blues Kiekko-Espoo is a Finnish professional ice hockey club founded in 2018 as a continuation of the Kiekko-Espoo team originally founded in 1984. Kiekko-Espoo men's team plays in the Liiga, where they were promoted for the 2024–25 Liiga season, 20 ...

of the

Liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mesti ...

and

Jokerit Helsingin Jokerit (, English: Joker (playing card), Jokers or Jesters of Helsinki) is a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland, which competes in Mestis. Jokerit plays its home games at the Helsinki Ice Hall and Helsinki Halli in ...

of the

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

Career

Marjamäki is notable for becoming a pro coach at a relatively young age, having only played a couple of seasons' worth of junior hockey semi-professionally before turning to coaching. After working the youth ranks of Finnish clubs

Ilves Tampereen Ilves, commonly known as Ilves, (; Finnish language, Finnish for "Eurasian lynx, Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Nokia Arena (Tampere), Nokia Arena. The colors of Ilves, ...

and

, he joined the coaching staff of the Blues’ men's squad as an assistant in 2007. In 2011, he was promoted to the head coaching job and remained in that position until February 2013. Marjamäki took over the reins at fellow

club

Oulun Kärpät Oulun Kärpät (Finnish language, Finnish for "Oulu Stoat, 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 champion ...

prior to the 2013-14 season and coached the team to back-to-back Finnish championships in 2014 and 2015. After grabbing the 2015 title, he won the

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 ...

as the Liiga Coach of the Year. Marjamäki was head coach of the Finnish KHL team, Jokerit, 2018-2022. On February 24, 2022, Jokerit announced it would withdraw from the 2022 KHL playoffs due to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. Multiple team sponsors including the arena's title sponsor Hartwall announced intentions to end their agreements; the team's future participation in the KHL has yet to be determined. Three days later Oulun Kärpät announced that Lauri will return to the team and be the new head coach.

National team coaching

Marjamäki was named as a Team Finland assistant coach under Erkka Westerlund for the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and also served as an assistant coach at the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and 2015 World Championships, winning silver in 2014. Marjamäki was announced as the next head coach of the Finnish national team in August 2015 and he began in position in 2016, succeeding the previous head coach,

Kari Jalonen Kari Jalonen (born January 6, 1960) is a Finland, Finnish professional ice hockey coach and former player. He was a former head coach of Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team in year's 2022 and 2023. He is not related to Finnish i ...

. Team Finland’s first tournament with Marjamäki at the helm was the

2016 World Cup of Hockey The 2016 World Cup of Hockey (abbreviated WCH2016) was an international ice hockey tournament. It was the third installment of the National Hockey League (NHL)-sanctioned competition, 12 years after the second World Cup of Hockey in 2004. It was ...

, where the Finns placed last of eight. The team placed third in the 2016–17 Euro Hockey Tour and fourth at the

2017 IIHF World Championship The 2017 IIHF World Championship, the 2017 edition of the annual Ice Hockey World Championships, was held from 5 to 21 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany and Paris, France. The official tournament mascots were Asterix (character), Asterix and Obelix, ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In August 2017, Marjamäki announced that he would not take the +2 year option available in his contract, despite the Finnish Ice Hockey Association being open to the extension, and would leave the position at the conclusion of the 2017–18 season. In his second season leading behind the bench, the team were champions of the

2017–18 Euro Hockey Tour The 2017–18 Euro Hockey Tour was the 22nd season of Euro Hockey Tour. It started in November 2017 and lasted until April 2018. It consisted of Karjala Tournament, Channel One Cup, Carlson Hockey Games and Sweden Hockey Games. Final standings ...

, winning both the 2017 Karjala Tournament and 2018 Sweden Hockey Games and placing third at the 2017 Channel One Cup and a respectable second at the

2018 Carlson Hockey Games The 2018 Carlson Hockey Games were played between 19 and 22 April 2018. The Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden and Russia played a round-robin for a total of three games per team and six games in total. Five of the games were played in Pardubice, Cz ...

. At the men's ice hockey tournament of the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

, a loss to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in the quarterfinals prevented the Finns from progressing to fourth position or higher, ultimately placing sixth. The

2018 IIHF World Championship The 2018 IIHF World Championship was an international ice hockey tournament hosted by the Denmark, Danish cities of Copenhagen and Herning, held from 4 to 20 May 2018. The IIHF announced the winning bid on 23 May 2014 in Minsk, Belarus. South Kor ...

was Marjamäki’s last major tournament with the national team. Finland finished at the top of

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for Grand tourer, grand touring (GT) cars used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World S ...

, a group which included perennial heavyweights

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, as well as recent silver-medal winners

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Despite early success, the Finns were again stymied in the quarterfinals, this time losing to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Personal life

He is married to Finnish Olympic ice hockey player,

Sari Marjamäki Sari Kristiina Marjamäki (born 17 December 1971) is a Finnish retired ice hockey forward. She played 217 matches as a member of the Finnish national team and represented Finland at sixteen top-level international competitions: three Olympic ...

They have two children, a daughter (born in 2008) and a son.

Awards and honours

Head coach

* SM-liiga Finnish Championship ''(2)'':

with

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

with Oulun Kärpät * Kalevi Numminen Award ''(1)'': 2015 *

Champions Hockey League The Champions Hockey League is a European first-level ice hockey tournament. Launched in the 2014–15 season by 26 clubs, 6 leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament features top teams across Europe. Backgrou ...

''(1)'': 2015–16 *

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

Finnish Championship ''(1)'':

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

with Oulun Kärpät *

Euro Hockey Tour The Euro Hockey Tour (EHT) is an annual ice hockey tournament open to only the national men's teams of the Czech national ice hockey team, Czech Republic, Finnish national men's ice hockey team, Finland, Switzerland men's national ice hockey tea ...

''(1)'': 2017–18

Assistant coach

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

''(1)'': 2014 Sochi *

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

''(1)'': 2014 Belarus * SM-liiga Finnish Championship ''(2)'':

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

with

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

with Espoo Blues

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marjamaki, Lauri 1977 births Living people Finnish ice hockey coaches Ice hockey people from Tampere Finland men's national ice hockey team coaches Ice hockey coaches at the 2018 Winter Olympics