The fresh Finnish champion Tappara made a splash with coaching news on Wednesday.

Kari Jalonen is the new head coach of the team with a two-year contract.

Jalonen replaces Rikard Grönborg, who is moving on to become the head coach of the Swedish national team after spending three seasons in Tampere.

Jalonen will be joined in his coaching staff by Fredrik Norrena, Matti Tiilikainen, and Kristian Kuusela. The goaltending coach will continue to be Aki Näykki and the skills coach will be Ville Nieminen.

Jalonen, who has won four Finnish championships as a head coach, returns to the SM-liiga for the first time since spring 2011, when he coached HIFK.

Tappara’s GM Janne Vuorinen commented on the matter in a press release.

– Jalonen is known for his extensive expertise and solid experience as a head coach of various teams, high standards, and passion for the sport, ability to collaborate, commitment to athleticism, and skill in leading teams to success. These are exactly the qualities we emphasized when recruiting a coach, and we are pleased to welcome Kari Jalonen back to the Liiga as Tappara’s next head coach.

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