Born in Finland, the 51-year-old Suhonen becomes the first coach that was born and trained in Europe since the league began its modern era with expansion in 1967-68. Ivan Hlinka of the Czech Republic is expected to take over as coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins over the summer.

Suhonen is the second European-born coach in NHL and team history, joining Russian Johnny Gottselig, who coached the Blackhawks from 1944-48.

His immediate task will be bringing stability to a proud franchise that has endured one of the roughest stretches in franchise history. The Blackhawks have not made the playoffs for the last three seasons and have gone through four coaches in the last two years.

"I'm very honored to have the chance, the challenge of coaching the Chicago Blackhawks," he said. "It's a great city with great fans. I really hope I can bring something that can get this team going and have better results than the last couple years."

Known as an offensive coach who likes a free-flowing, creative game, Suhonen had an impressive coaching career in Finland. He won the European Junior Championship in 1978 on an overtime goal by future NHL star Jari Kurri. The victory marked the first time any Finnish team won an international tournament.

From 1977-1986, Suhonen oversaw all of Finland's national Under-18 and Under-20 teams and also coached the country's Olympic squad in 1984.

"He is one of the most experienced coaches, he's coached all over the world," said Mike Smith, Chicago's manager of hockey operations, who hired Suhonen to coach the Moncton Jets of the American Hockey League in 1989-90. "He's knows everybody, everybody knows him. He's well thought of."

Suhonen technically replaces Bob Pulford, who fired general manager Bob Murray on December 2 and demoted Lorne Molleken from head coach to associate coach after the Blackhawks got off to a 5-15-4 start. Pulford took over as both general manager and interim coach, but Molleken retained the gameday duties of the head coach in an odd setup.

Smith, who previously served as Toronto's associate general manager, has long been an admirer of European players and was instrumental in helping Suhonen advance his career in North America.

Suhonen said his being named coach further validates the impact European players have made on the game in the last two decades.

"I think it's an acknowledgement to hockey in Europe," he said. "The last 15, 20 years, more players have come over from different countries in Europe. I think this would not be possible if we did not have good people working in hockey. This is like a statement of the work of hockey in Europe."

Hired by Smith as a Leafs assistant two years ago, Suhonen takes over a Chicago team that was a disappointing 33-39-10 last season. He said he will stress "natural hockey", predicated on puck control.

"I'm a big believer of flow (and a) creative, fast-skating game," he said. "We have to have guys that can skate. Constant movement is the key to being able to play a transition game."

Following the 1989-90 season, Suhonen returned to Finland to pursue his other passion, the theater. He turned down the Jets' head coaching job in 1991 to honor his previous commitment to the theater.

Suhonen served as an assistant for the Jets in 1992-93, the year Teemu Selanne scored a rookie-record 76 goals. But he was lured back to Finland following the season and produced several plays, including Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in 1994.

He returned to North America in Spring 1997 to coach the Chicago Wolves of the International Hockey League and posted a 9-5-1 record in the final 15 games of the season after replacing Gene Ubriaco.

Suhonen's coaching resume includes more than 1,500 games in Europe and over 300 NHL contests.