Kari Jalonen


Kari Jalonen is a Finnish professional ice hockey coach and former player. He was a former head coach of the Czech Republic men's national [ice hockey team] from 2022-2023. He is not related to Finnish ice hockey coach Jukka Jalonen.

Playing career

A product of Oulun Kärpät, Jalonen played parts of two seasons at the NHL level, with the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers. He made a total of 37 NHL appearances. He is best known for his time in the SM-liiga, but also had stints in Sweden and France.
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 SM-liiga 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 in KHL 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 finals, losing to Metallurg Magnitogorsk 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. He guided the Finnish national team to a silver medal at the 2016 IIHF World Championships in Russia before stepping aside to take on the Bern job. He guided Bern to the Swiss championship in his first year in charge 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 Finland men's national [junior ice hockey team|Finnish U20 national team], covering the 2023 World [Junior Ice Hockey Championships|2023] and 2024 [World Junior Ice Hockey Championships|2024] IIHF U20 world championships.
Jalonen was named head coach of Kölner Haie of the German top-flight DEL league in 2024.
In 2025 was announced that Jalonen will become Tappara's new head coach starting in the 2026–27 season, when current head coach Rikard Grönborg returns to Sweden.

Awards and titles

As a player

As a coach

Career statistics

International