As a coach, Viktor Tikhonov created the invincible “Red Machine”. Viktor Tikhonov - Generalissimo of Hockey

Viktor Tikhonov devoted his life to sports. After finishing his hockey career, he moved into a coaching position. This outstanding hockey player and then coach won many trophies during his long sports life. He was always focused on winning. Even when scandals with famous players began to occur in the national team, Tikhonov managed to motivate the team to win.

The beginning of the sports journey

Viktor Tikhonov was born on June 4, 1930 in Moscow. As a child, he was a sporty child and actively participated in team sports. There were no conditions for training at that time. Therefore, this legendary hockey player and coach learned the basics of sports in the yard. His first job was as a mechanic in a bus depot. In 1943, Viktor Tikhonov continued to study at school. This hockey player began to actively engage in sports in the army. It was there that Tikhonov turned from an amateur into a professional athlete. He progressed quickly, and all hockey specialists noted his talent.

Professional career

Viktor Tikhonov played for the MVO Air Force club from 1949 to 1953. This talented defender was then transferred to Dynamo (at that time one of the strongest teams in the USSR). He played for the Dynamo club for 10 years. During this time, this Moscow club became the national champion 4 times. In 1950, this hockey player was awarded the title of Master of Sports. In 1963, Viktor Tikhonov (hockey player) ended his playing career, but remained in the sport.

Coaching activities

At the end of his professional career, Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhonov worked for a short time as a sports instructor in the Air Force. But then he returned to the Dynamo club again as an assistant coach. This former star defender worked there for 3 seasons. Only in 1968 was he finally entrusted with coaching Dynamo Riga on his own. In this club, Tikhonov managed to realize himself as a mentor. At the beginning of his work, the club from Riga played in the second league. Viktor Vasilievich Tikhonov, with his own labor, was able to assemble a decent team. Under the leadership of this coach, Dynamo Riga took 4th place in the league. Thus, the club repeated its best performance for the entire existence of the team. The management of the Riga club wanted to keep this coach, but he had other plans.

Work at CSKA

After success at Dynamo Riga, Tikhonov began to be called to CSKA. But Viktor Tikhonov (coach) initially refused to take this prestigious position, because he believed that he had no right to take the place of Loktev, who won the USSR Championship with this Moscow team. However, after communicating with Yuri Andropov, he still decided to lead CSKA. At the same time, Viktor Tikhonov became the coach of the USSR national team. As a result, he worked for CSKA for 15 years. During this time, he and the team won the USSR Championship 12 times, won the USSR Cup twice and won the European Champions Cup 13 times. In the 1983-1984 season, the CSKA team under the leadership of Tikhonov lost only 2 points in the national championship. During Viktor Vasilyevich’s tenure, many Russian hockey stars played in this club, such as Vyacheslav Fetisov, Sergei Makarov and others.

Coaching work in the national team

Under the leadership of Tikhonov, our team won the world and European championships many times. The USSR national team won the Canada Cup in 1981 and also won the Olympic Games three times. Before this triumph in 1980, Tikhonov's team surprisingly lost in the finals of the group tournament to the US team. In 1994, the Russian team, led by Tikhonov, was left without medals at the Olympic Games. This failure was the first in the history of domestic hockey. After this, Viktor Tikhonov left his post, but continued to work at the CSKA club.

Then the team started having bad times. Our team was left without medals at several international tournaments. It was up to 73-year-old Viktor Tikhonov to lead the team out of the crisis. However, even after the return of the legendary coach, the Russian national team performed extremely poorly at the World Championships in 2004. Tikhonov left the hockey team after the end of the tournament.

Personal life

Viktor Tikhonov got married in 1953. He lived with his wife Tatyana, who is a lawyer by training, until the end of his days. On May 13, 1958, the couple had a son, Vasily. He fell in love with hockey just like his father. Vasily Tikhonov did not become a professional player, but he is known to everyone as a coach. He worked abroad for a long time, and then worked in the system of clubs "Avangrad", "Ak Bars" and CSKA. On August 7, 2013, Vasily Tikhonov passed away as a result of an accident. The tragedy in the family undoubtedly affected the health of Viktor Tikhonov. The Tikhonov hockey dynasty is currently continued by grandson Victor. This athlete plays in the SKA hockey club. He competed in the 2014 world championship. At the end of the tournament, our team won gold medals. His legendary grandfather was present at the awards ceremony for the players. Victor personally congratulated his grandson to the applause of the assembled athletes and journalists.

On November 24, 2014, the great coach passed away. The hockey world mourned the passing of this amazing man, who did a lot for Russian hockey. All KHL matches began with a minute of silence.

Viktor Tikhonov, whose biography was successful, will forever remain in the history of domestic hockey. Viktor Vasilyevich, coaching clubs and the national team, won a large number of trophies. Many hockey experts, as well as the hockey players themselves, criticized this coach for being too strict. However, it is possible that it was thanks to her that the USSR national team was the strongest team in the world.

The patriarch of domestic and world hockey, strategist and tactician of the great game, coach of the famous CSKA and the national team, Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhonov, is fully worthy of the title of “Generalissimo”: seven victories at the World Championships, three “golds” and one “silver” at the Olympics, victories in the Super Series, European cups, fifteen years in a row of domestic championships as part of the “army team”. And my whole life for the glory of Soviet and then Russian hockey. And in the recent past, as president of his native CSKA, he still set a high bar for himself and others. He left. An irreparable loss for domestic sports. But in this interview he is still alive and full of strength. He tells his story, more like a living legend. And he remembers how IT was...

"Do you remember how it all began?.."

Now it may seem strange, but my first love was not hockey, but football. And the whole career proceeded vertically, or something: from the first youth team through three adult stages immediately to the first men's, and from the first men's - immediately to the reserve team of masters - the Air Force, the Air Force, the "owner" of which was actually himself Vasily Stalin, son of the “leader of the world proletariat.” This was in 1949.

And along the way, like many then, he played “Russian” hockey, ice hockey, and so he combined all these activities for three years: in winter - hockey, in summer - football. Without vacations and the usual off-season breaks. And in 1952, by decision of the Government, the CSKA team was disbanded (they then lost to the Yugoslavs), and all the players from there moved to us, in the Air Force. That is, two powerful teams merged together. And Vsevolod Mikhailovich Bobrov, who was then coaching the Air Force, told me: “Vitya, I understand that it’s a pity for you to give up football, but it will be difficult to break through there. Choose hockey”... I had to make a decision. The choice was not too difficult, especially since I loved both football and hockey equally.

And if at all from the very beginning, then back in 1945, we, five guys from the same yard, got together and decided to sign up for a football team. Where to go? There are Dynamo, Spartak, CSKA (until 1963 - CDKA. Editor's note)... We thought about it and decided to go to Sokolniki, there was an army sports base there. There was a trial on a large field, by the way, I was not the best, maybe third, fourth... But for some reason the coach left me alone. And then I played football for the CSKA boys for a whole year.

And in 1946 the club itself was closed for some reason. Where to go? Nearby was the student “Burevestnik”, there were three youth teams and five men’s teams, all coached by one coach. For three years I was captain of the first youth team, and since I played well, I was immediately taken from the first youth team to the first men’s team.

And in winter the coach asked: “Do you skate?” Who among us didn’t ride then? We spent all our free winter time on the street and at the skating rinks. This is how I came to “big” hockey. And, what’s most interesting, I played in a variety of positions: in football - as an attacker, in bandy - as a defender, in “Canadian” hockey - again as an attacker.

It was as a hockey player that Vsevolod Bobrov noticed me.

Vsevolod Mikhailovich Bobrov

At that time, athletes were not given apartments, and on Commune Square this entire famous “team of lieutenants” of CSKA lived in a hotel. And the Burevestnik field was five minutes away, and they came to train with us on the first ice. And Bobrov, seeing me, said: “We should attract this boy...” To which the administrator just shrugged: “Why attract him? He’s been ours for a long time, he played in the reserve team for a year.” That's roughly how it all happened... And then I became the first four-time champion of the Soviet Union in hockey: three years with the Air Force, and the fourth time with Dynamo. Arkady Ivanovich Chernyshev invited me there, but now as a hockey player. True, in the summer, if I had time, I still played football for the Dynamo reserve; after all, my first love.

Actually, of course, everything was not so simple... When the war began, I was 11 years old. My father died at the front, near Stalingrad. Mom and I were left alone. As a twelve-year-old boy, I already went to the factory. We had absolutely nothing to eat. I even lost consciousness from hunger. Mom said: “Will the time ever come when we will be able to eat as much bread as we want?”

Mom was very strong in spirit and had extraordinary kindness. I appreciated this later, when I grew up. One day she collected all her best suits and dresses and exchanged them for a bag of potatoes. She brought it alone, on the footboard of a tram. How could she? Where did she get so much inner strength from?

One day she brought a can of condensed milk. We had to stretch it out for a whole month. And I, still a completely foolish boy, could not resist and ate a little of it in two days. How worried I was later! Mom, of course, forgave me and soon forgot about it, but I remember as if it were yesterday. It’s very hard to remember this... It was a difficult life, like everyone else’s.

Victor TIKHONOV and Vsevolod BOBROV (right). Photo by Anatoly BOCHININ

Then - big sports, trips, it was difficult to combine endless training camps with the desire to finish school. But still, they let me go, finished the seven-year school, then the school for working youth, got married, had a son... Somehow everything happened in a row, or rather, in parallel. There is an institute there. And the travels did not stop, “chasing for ice”, to Sverdlovsk, to Perm. You only have a bag with your uniform and books.

I studied by correspondence, instead of watching movies I sat on textbooks. I remember I came to take biochemistry, and the teacher just shrugged: “How are you going to take it without ever showing up to class? Try it, however...” And when he put an A in his record book, he shook his hand.

It was a good school of self-discipline that helped me in the future. Moreover, before my eyes there was an example of others, when, after many years of sports glory, a person, without education, found himself “overboard” in life, fell down...

But I was lucky to have good advisers, senior members of the football and hockey teams, people with experience who said: “Victor, if you want to achieve something in sports, don’t drink, don’t smoke... And most importantly, study.” Thanks to them. And I have not been shy about learning all my life. I prepared for each training session, analyzed everything with my assistants, and wrote notes. I finished playing at thirty-two, and Chernyshev said then: “You will be my assistant.” I gave Dynamo Moscow eight years, gaining invaluable practical coaching experience under the leadership of Arkady Ivanovich.

Baltic "training ground"

In 1971, I was invited to work as the senior coach of Dynamo Riga. The residents of Riga did not shine in the national championships then, except for fourth place in 1948, the second USSR championship. And by the time I arrived, they had slipped to penultimate place in the second league standings. After watching their training, I was amazed - the guys worked for only an hour and a half! For us in Moscow, six-hour training sessions were the norm at training camps. And in other sports we trained for five to eight hours. It became clear that with such physical preparation, success at the national championship was out of the question.

USSR national hockey team training

It was in the Riga team that I first used circuit athletic training; we constantly ran cross-country. By the way, later I constantly ran cross-country races with both the army team and the Soviet national team myself, at the head, so to speak, until I “turned” 65. This, you know, mobilizes, the personal example of the coach.

It was at Dynamo Riga that we introduced the “four-line” game. Today, it’s even strange that someone then had to prove that a player’s stay on the ice for only 50 seconds instead of one and a half to two minutes would give much more dynamics to the game and save energy for the final of the match. Now this is a world practice, a kind of hockey axiom. But all the Riga leaders believed in me, the players supported me.

Of course, at first we fought. After the first training camp, we returned to Riga, the authorities grabbed their heads: “Viktor Vasilyevich, what are you doing?! Our players are not used to working like this” “Why did you invite me then?” - I asked reasonably. By the way, I didn’t bring my wife to Riga in the first year. I still doubted whether it would work...

At that time, in general, the country had an excellent galaxy of coaches, each team had three or four powerful players. Today there are a couple of strong hockey players - you can play... I tried to learn from everyone, and adopted coaching experience from other sports - weightlifting, athletics, swimming... By the way, in our Air Force physical training was led by a ten-time national champion in athletics. I even consulted with theater directors, the great Moiseev himself allowed me into his rehearsals, my brother worked as a masseur in his dance ensemble. I saw how all the elements were worked out, from simple to complex. Experience came from everywhere.

As a result, in 1977 we took fourth place in the country’s Major League, repeating, so to speak, the success of twenty-nine years ago. Although in Riga I then had the youngest team in the country.

Viktor Tikhonov, artist Armen Dzhigarkhanyan and Vladimir Yurzinov (from left to right), Photo: Igor Utkin and Alexander Yakovlev / TASS

Army forced march

That season we were one point short of bronze. There was a tradition in Riga that at the end of the season I spoke to the audience and reported, so to speak, on the work done. The hall was always packed with 6,000 people. And that time, everything was moved outside, Nikolai Nikolaevich Ozerov arrived, spoke, warmly congratulated him on the success and said: “Your coach has been appointed coach of the Soviet Union national team.” It was the Union; there was no talk about CSKA at that time. And three days later - a call from Moscow: “Viktor Vasilyevich, come to the Ministry of Defense.”

I arrived, and Rear Admiral Nikolai Aleksandrovich Shashkov, then head of the sports committee of the Ministry of Defense, said to me: “Take over the Central Sports Club of the Army.” “No, thank you,” I say. - As for the national team, there are no problems, I can leave Dynamo at any time for any period of time, my assistants will handle it. But I don’t want to change the club. I’m used to it in Riga, everything is fine there.” He persuaded me for about half an hour. And suddenly - a phone call. I look, he picks up the phone and suddenly the man’s face changes, he says quietly:

“There’s a car waiting for you at the entrance.”

He waits - so he waits, I get out, get into the black Volga, we drive - and suddenly we find ourselves in Lubyanka. And the person accompanying me reassures me: “Don’t worry, Viktor Vasilyevich, they want to talk to you.” And again - no worries. I had an enthusiastic Dynamo fan; Vladimir Petrovich Pirozhkov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee, repeatedly invited me to talk on occasion. That's what I thought then. But I could not even imagine that I would find myself in the office of Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov himself.

Andropov started talking again, softly - about CSKA... “I won’t accept,” I repeat. Imagine for yourself: the team has just won the National Championship, and at such a moment to replace Loktev... The guys won’t understand. By the way, that’s what happened; at first there was friction.

Tikhonov with CSKA hockey players, Photo: Sergey Guneev / RIA Novosti

In general, there was no alternative, and I had to take over the club and “put things in order” at the request of the country’s leadership. Indeed, honored players, with their own ambitions... An established team. The first months I had to sleep for three hours, plan training, and a training schedule. There was a lot of struggle, sometimes even some of the players had to be “covered up” in front of the authorities, others were simply given a choice: either the team or free bread... But support, of course, was at all levels. By the way, I have always been lucky with this.

I remember back in the war, when I lived in the Zhigansky district, on Sukharevka, the older boys asked us boys to “stay on guard.” So one of their main ones, pointing at me, solemnly said to his people: “Don’t touch this. He plays sports." I don’t know why he liked me so much... But this is already lyrics.

And prose was in CSKA. Try to imagine our game mode at that time: the Izvestia Prize tournament in December, the European Championship - no match for today, the Super Series with the Canadians, the April World Championship... And this is not counting the European Champions Cup, regular games of the national championship. CSKA differed from other clubs primarily in its ability to work. It was, as they say now, a “brand”. To beat us, you had to jump over your head. My guys had 105-110 matches a year. Training camps, training... The intervals between moves are sometimes only a day; both the players and their coaches had to sacrifice a lot to achieve results. But we survived. I firmly knew that if you lose one year, you cannot lose the next year. They'll take it off. Therefore, I simply did not have the right to make a mistake then.

Viktor Tikhonov with CSKA players, Photo: Boris Kaufman / RIA Novosti

Above is only the sky...

What the army club did in those years can be safely entered into the Guinness Book of Records. Probably, no one will ever be able to become the champion of their country for fifteen years in a row (and in total CSKA became the champion of the USSR 32 times!), or win the European Cup 14 times! During this time, our Vyacheslav Fetisov, Alexei Kasatonov, Sergei Makarov, Igor Larionov, Vladimir Krutov, Sergei Fedorov, Alexander Mogilny, Pavel Bure became world-famous hockey players.

And if we add here the USSR national team, which regularly won the World Championships - in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1989 and 1990 (in 1987 it was second, and in 1985 and 1991 - third), European Championships - in 1978-1991... Our hockey players won the Olympic Games three times - in 1984, 1988 and already under the flag of the CIS - in 1992.

Everything began to fall apart in the early 90s. When we won the Olympic Games in 1992, a large outflow of hockey players to foreign clubs began from CSKA. 14 people left immediately. And we flew from second place to twenty-third. Everyone began to say - Tikhonov is not working well. Only now have we realized that the reason was not me. Hockey has just changed a lot since then.

Today the emphasis is on strength and speed. The game has become less combinational. The players began to think less and improvise. And hockey is, first of all, intuition, improvisation and flair. The technique and skating training have become worse. The gaming aspects have faded into the background. The key issue was money. Hockey used to be popular. There are hockey rinks in every yard. Now it's a disaster.

In Canada, where the population is 30 million people, there are 14 thousand skating rinks for every 500 thousand hockey players. In Russia, for 77 thousand players, there are only one hundred and a half. Is this a normal ratio? Hockey has become an elite sport, and not every family can afford it. Previously, the state provided hockey players with equipment. Now a child's uniform costs at least $400, and lasts for six months.

Therefore, children of wealthy parents are increasingly joining children's teams. Dad pays not only for the equipment, but also for the team’s trips, which is why his son goes on the ice. And a talented guy without money sits on the bench and cannot get into the lineup.

At the same time, any coach knows that stars often become stars from low-income families, who have much more motivation. Therefore, government support for children’s sports is very necessary.

As for foreigners in domestic hockey, I have a complex attitude towards this. Today we have about 100 foreign players, of which about 10 are really interesting players, the rest, no offense intended, are “consumer goods”, but they take the place of our, domestic, really high-quality guys.

It's the same with coaches. It’s one thing to invite a real master of his craft, another thing to invite a businessman from the third, but foreign division. And if he, moreover, does not know the Russian language... No translator is able to convey the full depth of the coach’s emotions, to express his actual requirements, since the translation occurs at the level of purely technical details. We need to form our own coaching school, fortunately we have plenty of potential for this.

Viktor Tikhonov during training, Photo: Igor Utkin / TASS

Recently, when a meeting was held on issues of physical culture and sports in the country, Gryzlov invited me to speak on this matter. And what to say? We need to start from school, when the physical education teacher, through simple lessons, instills in children a love of sports, and simply raises healthy, physically strong people. And then there will be no such failure with recruitment into the army, when every second person is initially sick and unfit for military service. It's the same in universities. Interuniversity competitions have disappeared, the Universiade does not count, it takes place once every many years. And until we solve this problem, we should not expect a rise in sports in our country.

But you will remember how our guys were supported by the whole country in recent years, how fans jumped up in unison in stadiums and in front of TV screens when our team scored at the World Championships and Olympics, and you will understand that it is sport that can again become that Great National An idea that will unite our country.

Interviewed by Andrey Turapin

Soviet hockey player and outstanding hockey coach, Honored Trainer of the USSR, Honored Trainer of the RSFSR, Honored Trainer of the Latvian SSR, Honored Worker of Physical Education of Russia. Retired colonel.

In 1977, Viktor Tikhonov also led the USSR national team, which began to regularly win world championships - in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982,1983, 1986, 1989, 1990, and European championships - in 1978-1991. Under Tikhonov, the team won the Olympic Games three times - in 1984, 1988 and 1992. Tikhonov was the head coach when the USSR team unexpectedly lost in the finals to the USA team at the 1980 Olympics. Under his leadership, the team won the Canada Cup in 1981.

In 1994, the Russian team, led by Tikhonov, was left without Olympic awards for the first time in the history of Russian hockey. After this, Tikhonov left the post of head coach of the national team, but remained the coach of CSKA. In the summer of 2003, after the national team had changed several coaches who unsuccessfully tried to bring it out of the crisis, 74-year-old Viktor Tikhonov again received an offer to lead the Russian national team. However, after an unsuccessful performance at the 2004 World Championships, Viktor Tikhonov left this post.

Son Vasily is also a hockey coach, worked in Finland, lives in Russia. Grandson Victor is a Phoenix hockey player.

Achievements

As a player:

champion of the USSR 1951-1954 (three times with the Air Force and one with Dynamo Moscow)

second prize winner 1959, 1960, 1962 and 1963

third prize-winner 1955-1958

winner of the 1952 USSR Cup

As a coach:

Olympic champion, 1984, 1988, 1992

Winner of silver medals at the Olympic Games, 1980

World champion, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990

USSR Champion, 1977-89

Winner of the USSR Cup, 1979 and 1988

14-time European Cup winner

Challenge Cup Winner 1979

Winner of the Canada Cup 1981

Awards

Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree

Order of Honor

The order of Lenin

Order of the October Revolution (1988)

Order of the Red Banner of Labor

Order of Friendship of Peoples (1981)

Medal "For Labor Distinction"

one of the first in the country to be awarded the medal “For Military Valor”, 1st degree, established by the Minister of Defense of Russia.

Knight of the Olympic Order

In admiration of Tikhonov’s merits in Russian hockey and in connection with his 70th birthday, the Russian Cosmonautics Federation awarded the famous coach a medal named after the first cosmonaut in history, Yuri Gagarin.

Viktor Vasilievich Tikhonov. Born on June 4, 1930 in Moscow - died on November 24, 2014 in Moscow. Soviet hockey player and hockey coach. As a coach, he won the Olympics with his team three times (1984, 1988, 1992), eight times at the World Championships, and became the USSR champion 12 times with CSKA Moscow. Honored Coach of the USSR (1978). Honored Worker of Physical Culture of the Russian Federation (1993). Master of Sports of the USSR, retired colonel.

Father - Vasily Prokhorovich Tikhonov (1906-1942), an employee of a secret military plant, a militia member during the Great Patriotic War, died near Malgobek in 1942.

Mother - Anna Ivanovna (1909-1984), worked in a blacksmith shop.

He and his brother were raised by their mother alone.

As a child, he played football and hockey in the yard, where his sports career began.

In 1942, Victor began working as a mechanic in a bus depot. In 1943 he resumed his studies at school, after which he entered a trade apprenticeship school.

In 1948 he was drafted into the army, where he was accepted into the hockey team of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District.

In 1949-1953 he played as a defender for the Moscow Military District Air Force, in 1953-1963 - Dynamo (Moscow), became the champion of the USSR four times. In 1950 he was awarded the title of Master of Sports.

He played 296 matches in the USSR championships and scored 35 goals.

After finishing active performances, Tikhonov worked as a sports instructor for the Air Force of the Moscow Military District.

Since 1962 in coaching: for three years assistant coach at Dynamo Moscow.

He began his independent coaching work in 1968 at Dynamo Riga. Together with the Riga team, Tikhonov went from a second league team to fourth place in the 1977 USSR Championship (a repeat of the 1948 team’s biggest achievement at that time).

At the end of the 1976/77 season, Tikhonov began to be actively invited to work at CSKA. For some time he refused, believing that he could not take the place of Konstantin Loktev, who won the championship with the team. However, after conversations with Tikhonov, he accepted the army club. A little earlier, Tikhonov headed the USSR national ice hockey team.

Over a decade and a half, CSKA, under the leadership of Tikhonov, became the national champion 12 times (and once, in the 1983/84 season, he even set a championship record, losing only two points in 44 matches), won the European Champions Cup 13 times, and won the USSR Cup twice.

At this time, CSKA players, Alexei Kasatonov, Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov, Sergei Makarov, Vyacheslav Bykov, Andrei Khomutov, Valery Kamensky, Sergei Fedorov, Alexander Mogilny, became world-famous hockey players.

In 1977, Viktor Tikhonov led the USSR national team, which began to regularly win world championships - in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990, European championships - in 1978-1979, 1981-1983, 1985-1987 , 1989, 1991.

Under the leadership of Tikhonov, the team won the Olympic Games three times - in 1984, 1988 and 1992.

Tikhonov was also the head coach at the 1980 Olympics, when the USSR team unexpectedly lost to the USA team in the final group tournament.

Under his leadership, the team won the Canada Cup in 1981.

In 1998 he was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame.

In 2000, in connection with Tikhonov’s 70th birthday, the Russian Cosmonautics Federation awarded him a medal named after the first cosmonaut in history, Yuri Gagarin.

In the summer of 2003, after the national team changed several coaches who unsuccessfully tried to bring it out of the crisis, 73-year-old Tikhonov again received an offer to lead the Russian national team. However, after an unsuccessful performance at the 2004 World Championships, Viktor Tikhonov left this post.

He died on November 24, 2014 at the age of 85 after a long illness. The cause of Viktor Tikhonov's death was cardiac arrest.

He was buried with military honors on November 27 at the Vagankovskoye cemetery (central alley, plot No. 2).

On April 4, 2015, in honor of Viktor Tikhonov, the asteroid discovered on October 24, 1984 by L.V. Zhuravleva in Nauchny was given the name “46539 Viktortikhonov”.

On April 12, 2016, a memorial plaque was unveiled on a house in Riga, on the street. Baznicas, 41/43, where Viktor Vasilievich lived with his family from 1973 to 1977, when he worked as the head coach of Dynamo Riga. The board was installed on the initiative of the Latvian Hockey Federation (Latvijas Hokeja federācija) and the Riga City Council. Its author is architect Andrey Gelzis.

The name “Viktor Tikhonov” is borne by the tugboat of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy.

In memory of Viktor Tikhonov: creator of the “red car”

Personal life of Viktor Tikhonov:

Wife - Tatyana Vasilievna (born 1933), lawyer by training. They have been married since 1953.

The couple had a son, Vasily (1958-2013), a hockey coach, worked in Finland, lived in Russia, until the end of the 2010-2011 season he worked as a senior coach at the Avangard HC, Omsk Region.

Grandson: Victor (b. 1988) (full namesake of his grandfather) - hockey player, forward of the SKA club (St. Petersburg). World champion 2014 as part of the Russian national team and the top scorer of the tournament.

Granddaughter: Tikhonova Tatyana Vasilievna (born 1984).

Great-grandchildren: Lev, Sofia-Victoria.

Achievements of Viktor Tikhonov:

As a player:

Champion of the USSR 1951-1954 (three times with the Air Force and one with Dynamo Moscow);
- Second prize-winner in 1959, 1960, 1962 and 1963;
- Third prize-winner 1955-1958;
- Winner of the USSR Cup 1952

As a coach:

Olympic champion, 1984, 1988, 1992;
- Winner of silver medals at the Olympic Games, 1980;
- World Champion, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990;
- USSR Champion, 1978-89;
- Winner of the USSR Cup, 1979 and 1988;
- 13-time European Cup winner, 1978-90;
- Winner of the Challenge Cup 1979;
- Winner of the Canada Cup 1981

The famous hockey coach, three-time Olympic champion, eight-time world champion and 13-time USSR champion Viktor Tikhonov died in Moscow on Monday night, Igor Esmantovich, general director of the Moscow hockey club CSKA, told the R-Sport agency. The legendary hockey player was 84 years old.

The famous hockey coach, three-time Olympic champion, eight-time world champion and 13-time USSR champion Viktor Tikhonov died in Moscow

“Today at one o’clock in the morning Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhonov passed away, who died in the hospital after a long illness. The CSKA hockey club expresses its deepest condolences and will take upon itself all issues related to the organization of the funeral. At the moment, the place and time of farewell and burial are unknown,” - Esmantovich reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to the family and friends of Viktor Tikhonov. This was reported by TASS, press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov.

In mid-October, it was reported that Tikhonov could not move independently and was undergoing treatment at home. A month ago he was hospitalized - according to some reports, due to heart problems. According to LifeNews, the other day the athlete’s condition worsened sharply and he was transferred to the intensive care unit of the Sklifosovsky Institute.

Senior coach of the USSR national team and CSKA hockey team Viktor Tikhonov (right) and forward of the USSR national team and CSKA team Sergei Makarov, 1979

Viktor Tikhonov was born in 1930. In 1942, at the age of 12, he began working as a mechanic in a bus depot. In 1943 he resumed his studies at school, after which he entered a trade apprenticeship school. In 1948 he was drafted into the army, where he was accepted into the hockey team of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District.

In 1949-1953 he played as a defender for the Moscow Military District Air Force, in 1953-1963 - for Dynamo (Moscow), and became the USSR champion three times. In 1950, Tikhonov was awarded the title of Master of Sports. He played 296 matches in the USSR championships and scored 35 goals.

After finishing active performances, Tikhonov worked as a sports instructor for the Air Force of the Moscow Military District. Since 1962, he has been working as a coach - he was an assistant coach at Dynamo Moscow.

World and European Ice Hockey Championships, 1979. USSR national hockey team with coach Viktor Tikhonov

He began his independent coaching work in 1968 at the Dynamo club (Riga). In the mid-1970s he began coaching the CSKA team. Over a decade and a half, CSKA under the leadership of Tikhonov became the national champion 14 times, won the European Cup 14 times, and won the USSR Cup twice.

In 1977, Viktor Tikhonov led the USSR national team, which began to regularly win world championships - in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990, and European championships - in 1978-1991. Under the leadership of Tikhonov, the team won the Olympic Games three times - in 1984, 1988 and 1992.

In 1994, the Russian national team, led by Tikhonov, was left without Olympic awards for the first time in the history of Russian hockey. After this, Tikhonov left the post of head coach of the national team, but remained the coach of CSKA. In the summer of 2003, Tikhonov again received an offer to lead the Russian national team, but after an unsuccessful performance at the 2004 World Championships, he left this post.

Viktor Tikhonov with his son Vasily

Viktor Tikhonov has been married since 1953 - his wife Tatyana Vasilievna, a lawyer by training. In 2013, Viktor Tikhonov’s only son, Vasily, died as a result of an accident. He was also a hockey coach, worked in Finland, lived in Russia, until the end of the 2010-2011 season he worked as a senior coach at HC Avangard (Omsk region). 55-year-old Vasily Tikhonov fell from the window of his apartment when he tried to cut off the mounting mesh covering the house due to renovations.

The grandson of Viktor Tikhonov, his namesake, is a hockey player for SKA St. Petersburg. Viktor Tikhonov Jr. became the 2014 world hockey champion as part of the Russian national team and was recognized as the top scorer of the tournament.

Grandson of Viktor Tikhonov - SKA player Viktor Tikhonov

Viktor Tikhonov had numerous awards - the Order of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of Friendship of Peoples, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree, the medal For Labor Distinction. He was one of the first in the country to be awarded the medal “For Military Valor”, 1st degree.

In 1998, Tikhonov was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame. The name of Viktor Tikhonov is included in the Museum of Olympic Glory located in Lausanne.