The Colorado Eagles will be led by a rising star in the coaching profession next season.
Jussi Ahokas, who helped the Kitchener Rangers win the Memorial Cup this past season, was hired Friday as the new coach of the Eagles, the Colorado Avalanche’s AHL affiliate. Ahokas, 45, is considered one of the top young coaches in the sport.
Ahokas, a native of Oulu, Finland, spent the past three years with the Rangers. He was the OHL coach of the year in 2024-25, then won both the league and the Memorial Cup in his third year.
Avalanche prospect Christian Humphreys was a key member of Ahokas’ Kitchener teams for the past two seasons. Ahokas has also coached Juraj Slafkovsky, Miro Heiskanen and Kaapo Kakko at either the club or international level.
“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,” Kevin McDonald, assistant general manager for the Avs and GM of the Eagles, said in a statement. “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.”
Prior to coming to North America with Kitchener, Ahokas was a head coach for four seasons in Finland’s SM-Liiga. He spent two seasons each with KooKoo and TPS, leading the latter to a second-place finish in the 2022 Liiga playoffs. He also led Finland to gold medals at the 2019 IIHF world junior championship and the U-18 world championship in 2016.
Ahokas will be the fourth Eagles coach since the franchise moved up to the AHL and became the Avs’ affiliate. The first three — Greg Cronin, Aaron Schneekloth and Mark Letestu — have all left for NHL jobs. Letestu was in charge of the Eagles for one season, leading the club to the Western Conference Final before taking an assistant job with the Vegas Golden Knights last month.
