Jalonen started his coaching career with SM-Liiga sides, managing
Ilves from 1992 to 1995, and
Lukko during the 1996–97 season. Afterwards, he took over
Mestis side
Vaasan Sport for the 1997–98 season. After a one-year stint with Sport, Jalonen spent three seasons abroad. First, he coached
HC Alleghe in Italy and then two seasons in the United Kingdom, with the Newcastle RiverKings and
Newcastle Jesters in the
British Ice Hockey Superleague, respectively. For the 2001–02 season, Jalonen returned to Finland and signed with
HPK. He went on to spend six seasons with HPK, and led the team to remarkable success with placing third in the SM-liiga in 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2004–05. His era in Hämeenlinna reached a climax in 2005–06, when he led HPK to win the first
Kanada-malja in the franchise history. The same year, he was awarded with the
Kalevi Numminen trophy for being the best coach in the league. In his last season with HPK in 2006–07, Jalonen added yet another SM-liiga bronze medal to his record. interviewing Jukka Jalonen at
2011 IIHF World Championship gold medal celebrations in Helsinki After his years in HPK, Jalonen started coaching the Finnish national team, first in the role of an assistant coach under
Doug Shedden in 2007–08, and then as the head coach from 2008–09 onward. In
2010, Jalonen's team won the Olympic bronze medal in Vancouver, and in
2011 he coached the Finnish national team to the country's second World Championship title. In the
final game, Finland defeated arch rivals
Sweden with a score 6–1. While Jalonen remained as the head coach of the national team until the end of 2012–13 season, the national team failed to win additional medals under his tenure. During the
2012–13 season Jalonen signed with KHL side
SKA St Petersburg, replacing
Miloš Říha during the season. He went on to lead the team to conference finals in the
Gagarin Cup. He stayed with SKA the following season,
2013–14, but the team's run ended in a loss in conference semi-finals. For the
2016 World Juniors that were organised in Finland, Jalonen was hired to coach the
Finnish U20 team. He successfully led the Finnish team to a World Junior Championship title on home ice, beating
Russia with a score 4–3 (OT) in the final at the
Hartwall Arena. In the
2016–17 season, Jalonen returned to the KHL with the Jokerit. Jokerit made the playoffs but were knocked out in the first round of the Gagarin Cup. In 2017, Jalonen was re-elected to the Finnish national team as head coach, replacing
Lauri Marjamäki after the
2018 World Championship. The contract originally covered the seasons 2018–2020, and was later extended by another two years to include the 2021–22 season. After his successful performances, which included gold medals at the
2019 IIHF World Championship and
2022 Winter Olympics, and a silver medal at the
2021 IIHF World Championship, Jalonen extended his contract to 2024. In June 2023, after another gold medal at the
2022 IIHF World Championship but a disappointing quarterfinals exit in
2023 he announced that he would be leaving the national team after his contract runs out. In 2024, Jalonen signed a two-year contract to become the head coach of the
Italian national team. Jalonen wants to raise the level of Italian hockey before the
2026 Winter Olympics. Jukka Jalonen has also mentioned that this is a very good challenge at an unknown level. Jalonen has lived in Italy for a year (as head coach of
Alleghe Hockey in 1998-99) and likes the lifestyle there. ==Coaching awards and honors==