Following the announcements of Head Coach Doug Shedden and Goalie Coach Sakari Lindfors, Milano confirms the signing of Finnish coach Pekka Kangasalusta as Assistant Coach.
Born in Jurva on September 22, 1977, Kangasalusta arrives in Milan with an impressive résumé, built step by step at the highest levels of European hockey, both as a player and as a coach. An international profile of considerable standing, completing a qualified and complementary coaching staff.
A defenceman by role, who came through the youth ranks at Ilves Tampere, Kangasalusta spent his professional playing career in the Finnish Liiga with Ilves, HIFK Helsinki, Kärpät Oulu, TPS Turku and Ässät Pori, as well as a spell in Sweden with Malmö IF.
After retiring as a player, Kangasalusta quickly moved behind the bench. Following early experience at youth level and in the Finnish second-tier league (as Head Coach with Kiekko-Vantaa), he established himself in the SM-Liiga and KHL as one of the most well-prepared coaches around: Assistant Coach at HIFK, then Head Coach at Jukurit, then again as an assistant at Jokerit. His career continued at Slovan Bratislava, with whom he won the Slovak Extraliga title, and in Germany, first at Bietigheim (Head Coach) and then at EHC München in the DEL (Assistant Coach). Most recently, again as an assistant, he moved to the Swiss National League with Rapperswil and Geneva.
On the international stage, in 2018 Kangasalusta served as Assistant Coach of the Finnish men's national team under Head Coach Lauri Marjamäki: a season that saw him take part in the two most important events on the international calendar — the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, where Finland reached the quarterfinals, and the IIHF World Championship. In 2023-2024 he also worked on the German national team's staff winning silver medal at IIHF World Championship in 2023.
"I'm very motivated for this new challenge," says Kangasalusta. "I know both Shedden and Lindfors by reputation, and I'm confident we'll build a great group. We have everything in place to be competitive from year one: the team we're putting together has a lot of potential."
