Suhonen worked for the Finnish ice hockey federation in the late 1970s until 1986. He coached the junior national teams and took charge of the men's national team in 1982. He was head coach of Team Finland at the 1984 Olympic Games and at four World Championships.
After coaching Zürcher SC of Switzerland for two years (1986–1988) and a short stint at the helm of Finnish Liiga side HPK, he served as head coach of AHL's Moncton Hawks in 1989[1] and then joined the coaching staff of the Winnipeg Jets, working as an assistant.[2]
In 1993–94, Suhonen coached Jokerit[3] to the Finnish championship[4] and then embarked on a two-year stint with EHC Kloten. He guided the team to back-to-back Swiss championships in 1995 and 1996.
In March 1997, he was named head coach of IHL's Chicago Wolves on an interim basis, but did not return for the following season.[5]
Suhonen was appointed head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks in May 2000[6] and was the first European born head coach in the National Hockey League since Johnny Gottselig in 1948. Suhonen lasted less than a year as head coach of the Hawks, as he resigned next spring because of heart problems.[7] There was frequent criticism to Suhonen's coaching citing lack of discipline and a country club atmosphere among the players.[8]
Suhonen returned to Finland and served as head coach of Liiga outfit HIFK from January 2002 until the end of the 2002–03 campaign. In November 2004, he took over head coaching duties at SC Bern of the Swiss National League A (NLA).[9] He coached the team to a NLA semifinal appearance in the 2004–05 season and to the quarterfinals the following season. He was released afterwards.[10]
Suhonen took the head coaching job at Finnish Ässät on 14 November 2007 and remained in that job until July 2009. Later that month, he was appointed as sport director of the Kloten Flyers in Switzerland.[11] He stepped down in August 2010 due to personal reasons.[12]
In the 2011–2012 season, he had a short stint as head coach of Slovak Extraliga club HC 05 Banska Bystrica.[13] On the first day of November, he resigned as head coach, but he remains in the structures of the club.
In June 2012, Suhonen accepted the position as sport director of the Austrian ice hockey federation.[14] In May 2016, he additionally took over the country's men's national team as head coach.[15] Suhonen left the Austrian federation when his contract expired in 2017.[16]
Other activitiesedit
Suhonen also produced a Finnish version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and ran for a spot in the European Parliament. At the time he was also the CEO of music festival Pori Jazz, and he has also written several books in Finnish.
alpo, suhonen, born, june, 1948, finnish, former, hockey, coach, suhonen, 2008born, 1948, june, 1948, valkeakoski, finlandcoached, forzürcher, 1986, 1988, 1988, 1989, moncton, hawks, 1989, 1990, jokerit, 1993, 1994, kloten, 1994, 1996, chicago, wolves, 1997, i. Alpo Suhonen born 17 June 1948 is a Finnish former ice hockey coach Alpo SuhonenSuhonen in 2008Born 1948 06 17 17 June 1948 age 75 Valkeakoski FinlandCoached forZurcher SC 1986 1988 HPK 1988 1989 Moncton Hawks 1989 1990 Jokerit 1993 1994 EHC Kloten 1994 1996 Chicago Wolves 1997 interim Chicago Blackhawks 2000 2001 HIFK 2002 2003 SC Bern 2004 2006 Assat 2007 2009 HC 05 Banska Bystrica 2011 2012 Coaching career1970 2017He and Ivan Hlinka of the Pittsburgh Penguins were the first European born NHL head coaches in 52 years Contents 1 Coaching career 2 Other activities 3 Coaching record 4 References 5 External linksCoaching career editSuhonen worked for the Finnish ice hockey federation in the late 1970s until 1986 He coached the junior national teams and took charge of the men s national team in 1982 He was head coach of Team Finland at the 1984 Olympic Games and at four World Championships After coaching Zurcher SC of Switzerland for two years 1986 1988 and a short stint at the helm of Finnish Liiga side HPK he served as head coach of AHL s Moncton Hawks in 1989 1 and then joined the coaching staff of the Winnipeg Jets working as an assistant 2 In 1993 94 Suhonen coached Jokerit 3 to the Finnish championship 4 and then embarked on a two year stint with EHC Kloten He guided the team to back to back Swiss championships in 1995 and 1996 In March 1997 he was named head coach of IHL s Chicago Wolves on an interim basis but did not return for the following season 5 Suhonen was appointed head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks in May 2000 6 and was the first European born head coach in the National Hockey League since Johnny Gottselig in 1948 Suhonen lasted less than a year as head coach of the Hawks as he resigned next spring because of heart problems 7 There was frequent criticism to Suhonen s coaching citing lack of discipline and a country club atmosphere among the players 8 Suhonen returned to Finland and served as head coach of Liiga outfit HIFK from January 2002 until the end of the 2002 03 campaign In November 2004 he took over head coaching duties at SC Bern of the Swiss National League A NLA 9 He coached the team to a NLA semifinal appearance in the 2004 05 season and to the quarterfinals the following season He was released afterwards 10 Suhonen took the head coaching job at Finnish Assat on 14 November 2007 and remained in that job until July 2009 Later that month he was appointed as sport director of the Kloten Flyers in Switzerland 11 He stepped down in August 2010 due to personal reasons 12 In the 2011 2012 season he had a short stint as head coach of Slovak Extraliga club HC 05 Banska Bystrica 13 On the first day of November he resigned as head coach but he remains in the structures of the club In June 2012 Suhonen accepted the position as sport director of the Austrian ice hockey federation 14 In May 2016 he additionally took over the country s men s national team as head coach 15 Suhonen left the Austrian federation when his contract expired in 2017 16 Other activities editSuhonen also produced a Finnish version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and ran for a spot in the European Parliament At the time he was also the CEO of music festival Pori Jazz and he has also written several books in Finnish Coaching record editTeam Year Regular season PostseasonG W L T OTL Pts Finish ResultCHI 2000 01 82 29 41 8 4 70 4th in Central Missed playoffsReferences edit Schenectady Gazette Google News Archivsuche news google com Retrieved 26 May 2016 Alpo the Anarchist www iihf com Retrieved 26 May 2016 Alpo Suhonen on Assien uusi valmentaja Ilta Sanomat in Finnish 14 November 2007 Retrieved 26 May 2016 Introducing the Kloten Flyers over 50 straight years in the top Swiss league Champions Hockey League www championshockeyleague net Archived from the original on 22 August 2016 Retrieved 26 May 2016 History Chicago Wolves Chicago Wolves Retrieved 26 May 2016 Suhonen Takes Reins of Struggling Blackhawks philly archives Retrieved 26 May 2016 Blackhawks Won t Bring Suhonen Back Los Angeles Times Associated Press 28 March 2001 ISSN 0458 3035 Retrieved 26 May 2016 Hawks turn to another Sutter nwitimes com Retrieved 26 May 2016 Blick Alpo Suhonen neuer SCB Trainer Blick www blick ch Retrieved 26 May 2016 Die fliegenden Finnen des SC Bern tagesanzeiger ch Retrieved 26 May 2016 Alpo Suhonen neuer Flyers Sportchef az Aargauer Zeitung Retrieved 26 May 2016 Suhonen verlasst die Kloten Flyers derbund ch Retrieved 26 May 2016 Actualite Alpo Suhonen a deja quitte la Slovaquie Planete Hockey Planete Hockey Retrieved 26 May 2016 Suhonen joins Austria www iihf com Retrieved 26 May 2016 NEWS SINGLEVIEW www iihf com Retrieved 26 May 2016 Eishockey at Abschied Sportdirektor Alpo Suhonen www eishockey at in German Retrieved 7 June 2017 External links editBiographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects com or Eurohockey com or The Internet Hockey DatabasePreceded byKalevi Numminen Finnish national ice hockey team coach1982 1986 Succeeded byRauno KorpiPreceded byBoris Majorov Jokerit head coach1993 Succeeded byHannu AravirtaPreceded byBob Pulford Head coaches of the Chicago Blackhawks2000 01 Succeeded byBrian Sutter Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Alpo Suhonen amp oldid 1193228466, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
