The Colorado Avalanche are bringing a proven winner into the organization.

Fresh off leading the Kitchener Rangers to a Memorial Cup championship, Jussi Ahokas has been hired as the next head coach of the Colorado Eagles, the Avalanche announced Thursday. The 45-year-old replaces Mark Letestu, who departed this offseason to join the Vegas Golden Knights as an assistant coach.

Ahokas arrives in Colorado after a wildly successful three-year run in Kitchener, where he transformed the Rangers into one of the Ontario Hockey League's premier programs. His teams won at least 40 games in each of his three seasons behind the bench, compiling a 135-52-13-4 record while capturing both the 2025-26 OHL championship and Memorial Cup title.

His success earned league-wide recognition. Ahokas received OHL Coach of the Year honors and First All-Star Team recognition in 2024-25 before being named the Second All-Star Team's coaching representative following Kitchener's championship season.

The Rangers also became a development powerhouse under Ahokas. Avalanche prospect Christian Humphreys flourished during his two seasons in Kitchener, recording 118 points (38 goals, 80 assists) in 91 games. Sam O'Reilly earned OHL Most Outstanding Player honors last season, while several other Rangers received All-Star and All-Rookie recognition during Ahokas' tenure.

"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," Avalanche assistant general manager and Eagles general manager Kevin McDonald 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."

The hiring continues a trend of turnover behind the Eagles' bench. Ahokas becomes the fourth head coach in the franchise's AHL history, following Greg Cronin, Aaron Schneekloth and Letestu. Each of his three predecessors moved on to NHL opportunities, with Cronin becoming head coach of the Anaheim Ducks, Schneekloth joining the Seattle Kraken as an assistant coach and Letestu landing with the Golden Knights.

Before making the jump to North America, Ahokas spent four seasons coaching in Finland's top professional league, Liiga. He guided KooKoo Kouvola for two seasons before taking over TPS Turku, leading the club to a runner-up finish in the 2022 Liiga playoffs. He was also named Liiga Coach of the Year during the 2019-20 season.

Internationally, Ahokas has built an equally impressive résumé with Finland's national program. He served as head coach of Finland's World Junior team from 2017-19, culminating in a gold medal at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship. He also coached Finland to gold at the 2016 IIHF Under-18 World Championship after previously earning silver as the team's video coach in 2015.

Earlier in his coaching career, Ahokas worked with Finland's women's national team, helping the program capture bronze medals at the 2008 and 2009 IIHF Women's World Championships before adding an Olympic bronze as the team's video coach at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

A native of Oulu, Finland, Ahokas was a goaltender during his playing career, appearing in Finland's under-20 league and spending part of the 1998-99 season with the Victoria Salsa of the British Columbia Hockey League.