Olli Jokinen lands himself his first professional coaching gig

Olli Jokinen, who played more than 1200 games in the NHL over the course of 18 seasons, is going behind the bench for his first professional job as a head coach. Reports out of Jokinen's home country of Finland state he will take over the coaching position for Mikkelin Jukurit of the Finnish Elite League beginning next season.

Since retiring from the NHL in 2015, Jokinen has owned and helped operate The South Florida Hockey Academy, which includes teams in four age groups; U18, U16, U13, U12. Jokinen has coached the U18 group. He will replace Marko Kauppinen, the current head coach of Jukurit, who is leaving after this season to take a position with the Finnish national team U16 group. Jokinen will be the fifth head coach of Jukurit in the last five years.

Jokinen was a third overall draft pick of the L.A. Kings in 1997 and spent parts of two seasons there. His NHL career saw him take on stints with several NHL teams. However, his seven seasons with the Florida Panthers was his longest time with any of them. He also suited up for the New York Islanders, the New York Rangers, Calgary Flames (two separate stints), Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators, Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues. In 1231 regular season games, he scored 321 goals and added 429 assists for 750 points.

Source: Is.fi

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