Kari Jalonen (born January 6, 1960) is a 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 ice hockey coach Jukka Jalonen.

Kari Jalonen
Born (1960-01-06) January 6, 1960 (age 64)
Oulu, Finland
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Kärpät
HIFK
TPS
Lukko
Junkkarit HT
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Skellefteå AIK
Rouen HE
National team  Finland
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 1978–1996
Medal record
Representing  Finland
Men's ice hockey
European Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 1978 Finland
World Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place 1980 Finland

Playing career

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A product of Oulun Kärpät, Jalonen played parts of two seasons (82-83, 83-84) 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 (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

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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 (NLA).[1] He guided the Finnish national team to a silver medal at the 2016 IIHF World Championships in Russia[2] before stepping aside to take on the Bern job.[3] He guided Bern to the Swiss championship in his first year in charge (2017)[4] 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.[5] 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 2023 and 2024 IIHF U20 world championships.

Jalonen was named head coach of Kölner Haie of the German top-flight DEL league in 2024.

Awards and titles

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Kari Jalonen Coaching Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in KHL, 2011–12 season

As a player

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As a coach

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Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1976–77 Kärpät FIN U20 24 21 10 31 32 6 4 3 7 6
1977–78 Kärpät FIN U20 23 23 18 41 52
1978–79 Kärpät SM-l 36 13 13 26 30
1979–80 Kärpät SM-l 28 23 24 47 16 6 3 5 8 2
1980–81 Kärpät SM-l 35 16 34 50 22 12 7 14 21 20
1981–82 Kärpät SM-l 33 21 26 47 24 3 2 5 7 2
1982–83 Calgary Flames NHL 25 9 3 12 4 5 1 0 1 0
1982–83 Colorado Flames CHL 33 12 32 44 8
1983–84 Calgary Flames NHL 9 0 3 3 0
1983–84 Colorado Flames CHL 1 0 0 0 0
1983–84 Edmonton Oilers NHL 3 0 0 0 0
1983–84 Kärpät SM-l 14 6 15 21 17 10 5 12 17 10
1984–85 HIFK SM-l 21 9 9 18 10
1985–86 Kärpät SM-l 35 19 35 54 46 5 2 3 5 14
1986–87 Kärpät SM-l 44 29 64 93 30 9 3 7 10 12
1987–88 Skellefteå HC SEL 22 9 18 27 16
1987–88 Skellefteå HC Allsv 16 9 15 24 17 5 5 4 9 6
1988–89 TPS SM-l 44 18 56 74 40 10 4 14 18 8
1989–90 TPS SM-l 37 19 31 50 12 9 5 8 13 10
1990–91 TPS SM-l 26 4 22 26 18 9 3 4 7 2
1991–92 TPS SM-l 44 10 21 31 8 3 0 1 1 0
1992–93 JHT FIN.2 26 21 45 66 28
1992–93 TPS SM-l 6 0 0 0 6 9 2 3 5 2
1993–94 Kärpät FIN.2 28 21 46 67 22
1993–94 Lukko SM-l 18 3 10 13 2 9 1 2 3 4
1994–95 Dragons de Rouen FRA 23 16 18 34 4 8 5 13 18 4
1995–96 Dragons de Rouen FRA 18 8 26 34 27 5 4 4 8 0
SM-l totals 422 190 360 550 281 94 37 78 115 86
NHL totals 37 9 6 15 4 5 1 0 1 0

International

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Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1978 Finland EJC 5 2 2 4 2
1979 Finland WJC 6 3 3 6 2
1980 Finland WJC 5 3 5 8 0
1981 Finland WC 8 4 3 7 5
1981 Finland CC 5 0 1 1 4
1982 Finland WC 7 4 3 7 0
1983 Finland WC 6 3 2 5 0
1986 Finland WC 9 4 6 10 6
1987 Finland WC 10 2 3 5 0
1989 Finland WC 10 5 9 14 0
Junior totals 16 8 10 18 4
Senior totals 55 22 27 49 15

References

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  1. ^ Bern, SC. "Confirmed - SC Bern signs Kari Jalonen to two-year contract". www.swisshockeynews.ch. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  2. ^ "sports | Finland Times". www.finlandtimes.fi. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  3. ^ "Marjamaki to take over". www.iihf.com. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
  4. ^ "Kari der Grosse". bernerzeitung.ch/. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  5. ^ "Hans Kossmann übernimmt - Kari Jalonen beim SC Bern entlassen". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) (in German). 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
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  Media related to Kari Jalonen at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by Winner of the Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy
1978–79
Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy
1986–87
Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Kalevi Numminen trophy
2004–05
Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Kalevi Numminen trophy
2006–07
Succeeded by
Preceded by Head Coach of TPS
2001–03
Succeeded by
Preceded by Head Coach of Kärpät
2004–08
Succeeded by
Preceded by Head Coach of HIFK
2008-2011
Succeeded by
Preceded by Head Coach of HC Lev Praha
2013-2014
Succeeded by
Team Folded
Preceded by Finland national ice hockey team Head Coach
2014–2016
Succeeded by
Preceded by Head Coach of SC Bern
2016-2020
Succeeded by
Guy Boucher
Preceded by Czech republic men's national ice hockey team Head Coach
2022-
Succeeded by