Background
Tikhonov was born and died in Moscow and was the son of legendary Soviet ice hockey coach Viktor Tikhonov.
Tikhonov was born and died in Moscow and was the son of legendary Soviet ice hockey coach Viktor Tikhonov.
He started his career in the 1980s by coaching the youth teams of Dinamo Riga. In 1990 he became the head coach of Finnish Master of Science-liiga side Ässät Pori. After the 1992–1993 season Tikhonov moved to North America and worked as an assistant coach with the San Jose Sharks in the National Hockey League and later as a head coach with the Kansas City Blades and Kentucky Thoroughblades of the American Hockey League.
In 1998 he returned to Europe and coached several teams in Finland, Switzerland and Russia.
Vasily Tikhonov died on 7 August 2013 in Moscow as he fell from his fourth-floor apartment window. Tikhonov was cutting a hole to a plastic screen that covered his building"s facade because of repairs.
Ässät Pori 1990–1993
San Jose Sharks (assistant) 1993–1996
Kansas City Blades 1995–1996
Kentucky Thoroughblades 1996–1998
Lukko Rauma 1998–2001
0HC Langnau 2001–2002
CSKA Moscow 2002–2004
Avangard Omsk (assistant) 2010–2011
Ak Bars Kazan (assistant) 2011–2012.