- Rick Dhaliwal reports the Canucks offered Jussi Ahokas their Abbotsford head coaching job
- The reigning Memorial Cup winner turned it down and is staying with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers
- Read below for why Vancouver came calling and where Ahokas could land next
The Canucks found their next AHL head coach. He said no thanks.
Vancouver interviewed and offered the Abbotsford job to Jussi Ahokas, the reigning Memorial Cup winner out of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, and the 45-year-old turned it down. Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK broke the news.
Dhaliwal laid the whole thing out on X:
The opening came up because Vancouver promoted Manny Malhotra to its NHL bench, which left Abbotsford without a head coach. Rather than make the jump to the pro ranks, Ahokas is heading back to Kitchener.
Ahokas is not your average junior coach. He became the first European bench boss in OHL history when Kitchener hired him in 2023, then swept the Rangers to the 2026 Memorial Cup, the club’s first title since 2003.
The trophy case backs up the interest. Ahokas won OHL Coach of the Year in 2025 and Liiga Coach of the Year back in 2020. He also owns gold medals from the World Juniors and the U18 Championship after years running Finland’s national teams and a four-year stint coaching in the Liiga.
Dhaliwal does not expect him to stay in junior for long. “Ahokas is viewed as 1 of the best young and upcoming coaches,” he wrote, adding he “wouldn’t be surprised if he lands elsewhere in the AHL.”
Kitchener keeps a bench boss who just won it all. Some other AHL club is going to land a coach Vancouver wanted badly enough to hand him the job.
