Jussi Ahokas Named Colorado Eagles Head Coach

The Colorado Avalanche announced Thursday that Jussi Ahokas will take over as head coach of the Colorado Eagles, the organization's AHL affiliate. Ahokas, 45, replaces Mark Letestu, who left to join the Vegas Golden Knights as an assistant coach.

Ahokas spent the past three seasons as head coach of the Ontario Hockey League's Kitchener Rangers, where he posted a 135-52-13-4 record. His tenure culminated this past season with both an OHL championship and a Memorial Cup title, making him the first European head coach to win both trophies. The Rangers won at least 40 games in each of his three years behind the bench.

In 2024-25, Ahokas won the Matt Leyden Trophy as OHL coach of the year. This past season, Kitchener posted the best regular-season record in the Western Conference, and Ahokas was named to the league's Second All-Star Team as the coach representative.

Before joining Kitchener, Ahokas coached in Finland's SM-Liiga with KooKoo Kouvola and Turku TPS. He won the Kalevi Numminen Trophy as Liiga coach of the year in 2019-20 and guided TPS to a second-place finish in the Liiga playoffs in 2021-22.

"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 Kevin McDonald, the Avalanche's assistant general manager and the Eagles' general manager, per nhl.com. "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."

Ahokas becomes the fourth head coach in the Eagles' AHL history, which began in 2018. He coached Avalanche prospect Christian Humphreys over the past two seasons in Kitchener, where Humphreys produced 118 points in 91 games.