Stefan Mair returns to Italy’s national team.

The next Italian bombshell: Stefan Mair returns

There was a big bang in ice hockey Italy on Monday. With Jukka Jalonen, the Blue Team signed an absolute world-class coach. At the same time, the most prominent South Tyrolean coach is returning to the Azzurri.

July 30, 2024

From: det

How did Italy manage to sign such a star coach? That must have been the question that went through many minds on Monday when it was officially announced that Jukka Jalonen will be in charge of the Azzurri in the future. The Finn became Olympic champion and three-time world champion as coach of his home country and is considered the most successful national coach in recent history.

Now it is clear that Jalonen will coach Italy – and will have a well-known assistant at his side. “Stefan Mair will be the assistant coach,” Stefan Zisser, the national team’s sporting director, told SportNews. The most famous South Tyrolean ice hockey coach is returning home.

“Stefan Mair played a big role in signing Jalonen.” Stefan Zisser

At the same time, Zisser explains: "Stefan Mair played a major role in signing Jalonen by establishing contact with the coach. He then immediately showed interest in becoming the assistant." Jalonen and Mair have known each other for many years and will now work together.

A return from Mair

For the Bolzano ice hockey coach, it is a return to the national team: from 2015 to 2017 he was already head coach of the Blue Team. Mair then made a name for himself in Switzerland and fulfilled a dream last January when he coached a Swiss first division team for the first time with EHC Kloten. After this adventure, Mair had flirted with the idea of ​​ending his career, but he will now act as Italy's assistant coach.

Jukka Jalonen is the new coach of Italy. © AFP / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND

Coach Jukka Jalonen, who was Finland's coach at the A World Cup last May, is already looking forward to the new task. "He was convinced from the start and then the whole thing went through relatively quickly," says sports director Stefan Zisser. "We had coaching candidates who only wanted to come to us because of the 2026 Olympics. For Jalonen, the 2026 Olympics certainly plays a big role, but not only that. He wanted to set a new stimulus, look for a new challenge," says Zisser.

“For the new coach, team spirit is the most important thing.” Stefan Zisser

The sports director describes the new coach as follows: "For him, team spirit is the most important thing. In Finland, he sometimes left top stars at home who were not 100 percent committed to the team." The first training camp with the new star coach for Italy's ice hockey stars is expected to take place in November, but the Finn wants to get an idea of ​​his new players in this country beforehand. Stefan Mair will also be seen more often in local stadiums in the future.