Vasily Viktorovich Tikhonov, hockey coach: biography, achievements, cause of death

In the sports world, the special attention of fans is focused on dynasties, those families where love of sport is passed on from generation to generation, from fathers to children and grandchildren. It is impossible to immediately determine whether it is easier for children to live with a pressing burden of responsibility for the glory of their ancestors. Often offspring do not follow in the footsteps of their parents, in order to avoid the inevitable comparison.

The hero of our story, Vasily Viktorovich Tikhonov (the photo is presented to your attention in the article), chose his life path, without a second hesitating - hockey. As well as his father, the famous hockey coach Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhonov, he associated his whole life with this sport ...

Hockey Dynasty

There is not a single hockey fan in our country who does not know Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhonov, the famous coach of the Soviet hockey school. It was he who became the founder of the Tikhonov dynasty. Three generations of this hockey family have been delighting fans all over the world for many years. And if Viktor Vasilyevich and Vasily Viktorovich loudly announced themselves on the coaching bridge, the younger Tikhonov, named after his grandfather - Victor, is currently playing in the strongest hockey league of the NHL, for Arizona Coyotis. At the same time, one can not exclude that eventually he will become a hockey coach, good, family predisposition to this is.

In the footsteps of his father

Vasily Viktorovich Tikhonov was born in Moscow on May 13, 1958. The fate of the boy was, in fact, predetermined already in early childhood. Papa, Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhonov, at the time of the birth of his son was an active hockey player, speaking for the Moscow "Dynamo". When Vasily was four years old, Viktor Vasilievich ended his career as an acting player and switched to coaching. It was clear that Vasily spent all his childhood with his father, with a stick in his hands. Viktor Vasilyevich, not having achieved great success in the playing field, hoped that it was in his son that he would be able to translate his unrealized game ambitions. Time has shown that the boy in many ways repeated his father's way. Not becoming a great hockey player, he was always in demand as a coach.

Moving to the Baltic States

When Vasily was ten years old, the family of Tikhonov moved to a permanent residence in Latvia. As it was established in sports families, the move was completely connected with hockey. Viktor Vasilievich was offered a job in the leading Latvian club, the Riga "Dynamo". At that time they vegetated in the second league of the USSR championship. For nine years of work in the club, Viktor Vasilievich managed to create from a mediocre team a fully efficient team, which was among the leading teams of the Soviet Union.

Despite the fact that Father Vasily was the head of the leading Latvian hockey club, he did not receive any advantage in terms of getting into the Dynamo team. Vasily's playing role is a defender, it was in this capacity that he made his debut in adult hockey for the Riga club "Latvijas Bērzs". He was at that time speaking in the second union hockey league. After a couple of seasons Vasily and his club made their way to the first league, as time showed, it was the biggest success for him and for his Riga club. In 1977, at the age of 29, the athlete decides to end his career as an active hockey player. According to him, this was prompted by the realization that he realized that it would not be possible to achieve any heights when he was a player, and pride prevented playing on the second roles.

Beginner Trainer

Despite the completion of the gaming career, Vasily Viktorovich Tikhonov was not going to completely break off relations with hockey. Before my eyes was an example of a father who did not achieve much as an acting player, but who managed to become the strongest coach of the Soviet Union.

His coaching career Vasily Viktorovich Tikhonov began from the very bottom. Initially, he worked in the Riga Youth Sports School, dealing with teenagers. Over time, the work of the coach was appreciated. His children's teams, speaking at competitions of his age, occupied high places, while showing beautiful hockey. In 1985, Vasily Viktorovich was entrusted to the junior team of the Riga "Dynamo", where he worked for five seasons.

The next stage in the career of Vasily Tikhonov was Finland. The beginning of the 90's was a very difficult time for our country. The changes taking place inside touched hockey. There was no single union championship, rightfully considered the strongest in the world, along with the NHL. And at that moment, a proposal came from Finland to work as a coach of the youth team of the club "Esset" from the city of Pori. Vasily Viktorovich Tikhonov, whose biography is presented to your attention in the article, accepted this proposal and in 1990 moved to Finland.

Coach career

In the role of coach of the youth team Vasily Viktorovich worked briefly. Already the next season, the club's leaders invited Tikhonov to lead the main team of "Asset". Success in the role of coach of the Finnish club did not go unnoticed beyond the ocean. In 1993, an offer was received from the NHL San Jose Sharks club to try out as the second coach in the world's strongest hockey league. This was a new professional challenge, and Tikhonov Vasily Victorovich gladly agreed to move to San Jose. Six seasons he spent in overseas hockey in the role of the main coach of the club "Kansas City Blades". Also in the asset of Tikhonov work as head coach in such clubs as the Finnish "Lucca", the Swiss "Langnau."

Return to Russia

In 2002, Vasily Viktorovich received a proposal, from which it was impossible to refuse. His father, Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhonov, at that time headed the Moscow CSKA. He also offered his son to work with him in pairs, in the role of the second coach of the army club. Later, Vasily Viktorovich moved to administrative work, performing the duties of the vice-president of the hockey club CSKA. Until 2010, Vasily Viktorovich Tikhonov worked in the club system, and only after this long period followed an attempt to work independently in the Russian "Vanguard" and AK "Barça". However, in 2012 Vasily Viktorovich again returns to the army club, this time in the role of adviser to the chief manager. Before the start of the 2013 season, Tikhonov was introduced to the coaching staff of CSKA, but the fateful accident ended the life of a talented coach.

Tikhonov Vasily Victorovich: the death of a great man

On August 7, 2013, hockey Russia was shocked by the terrible news. Tikhonov Vasily Viktorovich was tragically killed. The cause of death is very ridiculous. Everything happened in Vasily's native apartment. During the installation work, Tikhonov's house was tightened with a mounting net. Vasily Viktorovich, fearing that apartment thieves could penetrate this net to his apartment, tried to cut it off. As a result, he could not resist and fell out of the fourth floor window. So, because of the absurd accident, the life of an excellent coach and a beautiful person was cut short.

A year later, Viktor Vasilievich was no more, but the Tikhonov dynasty did not end there. The youngest of them took the baton - Viktor. In his 28 years he is the world hockey champion in the Russian team, the owner of the Gagarin Cup in the St. Petersburg SKA. Life goes on, and there is no doubt that we will hear more than once about Tikhonov in hockey reports.