Legendary Soviet hockey coach Viktor Tikhonov dies at 84
Viktor Tikhonov, legendary coach of the Soviet national team that won three Olympic gold medals, has died. He was 84. He is best known in the United States for being the coach on the wrong end of the Miracle on Ice.
By
Chris Peters
•
1 min read
He's best known in the United States for a loss, but in the international hockey community, Viktor Tikhonov was revered as one of the giants of the game. The KHL announced Monday that Tikhonov died during the night after a prolonged illness. He was 84.
Tikhonov was the coach of the Soviet team that lost to the United States in the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" game, but he also led Russia to the Olympic gold medal in 1984, 1988 and led the Unified Team after the fall of the Soviet Union to the 1992 gold. He also led Russia to eight IIHF World Championships.
He led the Soviet national team for 14 years and worked closely with KHL club CSKA Moscow in recent years.
"The entire global hockey community has lost a great coach," Vladislav Tretiak, who played goalie for Tikhonov's Soviet team and now heads the Russian Hockey Federation, told Russia's R-Sport news agency.
"He devoted his entire life to hockey until the last second. Even when I was with him in hospital, we were discussing what needed to be done and how, in order to raise the Russian national team to the very highest level."
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to Tikhonov's family, the Kremlin said. The Russian Sports Ministry called his death an "irreplaceable loss" for hockey fans worldwide.
Tikhonov's career is long and distinguished. The "Big Red Machine" hockey teams may have changed the game worldwide with their precision and skill. For that and their building Russia into a world hockey power, Tikhonov and his predecessor, Anatoly Tarasov, should be heralded as two of the game's greatest coaches.
Tikhonov's grandson, also named Viktor, was a first-round selection of the Arizona Coyotes. He had a brief NHL career and now plays in the KHL with SKA St. Petersburg. In 2014, young Viktor followed in his grandfather's Olympic footsteps and represented Russia in Sochi.
