Longtime Soviet Union national team hockey coach Viktor Tikhonov was in a hospital earlier this week, ranging from a routine check-up at age 84 to intensive care based on varying Russian media reports.
Tikhonov coached the Soviet Union at the Lake Placid 1980 Olympics, where it was shocked by the U.S. in the Miracle on Ice. The Soviets won silver. Tikhonov then led the Soviets to gold in 1984 and 1988 and the Unified Team to the 1992 gold.
Tikhonov’s grandson of the same name played for Russia at the Sochi Olympics.
“He’s just a normal grandfather,” the younger Tikhonov said in Sochi. “Always been really kind, always been really helpful. Obviously, I’ve heard the stories that he’s been a disciplinarian, but I’ve never really got it on me.”
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