On June 30th, the now-former head coach of the Colorado Eagles, Mark Letestu, departed for a role in the NHL. No one can blame him for advancing his career after taking the Eagles to their first AHL Western Conference Finals in team history. But it left an enormous gap to fill in the coaching role, especially after assistant coach Kim Weiss left for the PWHL. Friday morning, the Colorado Eagles announced that Jussi Ahokas will take over head coaching duties for the team.

Ahokas’ OHL history

Ahokas comes from the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL, where he won the Memorial Cup last season. Over his two-year span with the organization, he led the team to a 135–52–13–4 record, along with the best record in the regular season. The Rangers’ efforts earned Ahokas the Matt Leyden Trophy as coach of the year. Besides coach of the year, Ahokas received First Team All-Star coaching honors. Ahokas helped lead Avalanche prospect Christian Humphreys to 118 points (38g/80a) in 91 games since joining the Rangers as well.

“Jussi has done a great job with every team and every league he’s been a part of as a head coach, and we’re excited to welcome him into the Avalanche and Eagles family,” said Avalanche Assistant General Manager and Eagles General Manager Kevin McDonald. “His track record of winning games in a variety of leagues and international tournaments is impressive, and he’ll be a great fit for our team in Loveland.”

International stage

On the international stage, Ahokas served on Finland’s staff in a variety of roles in both the IIHF World Junior Championships and the IIHF Under-18 World Championships. He held the reins as head coach for the Finns in every Under-20 showcase from 2017–19 and won gold in 2019. He also won the gold medal at the 2016 IIHF Under-18 World Championship as the head coach and silver at the 2015 Under-18 tournament as the video coach. Last but not least, he served as the video coach for the Women’s National Team at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver and finished as a bronze medalist.

Like Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar, Jussi Ahokas has won at every level of coaching he has taken on. The AHL will be a new challenge for the Finn, but it appears to be something that he is not afraid to face. The Eagles now have more direction this offseason, and the young core has the perfect leader to help with the job.