Where are the bulls now. Vyacheslav Bykov: "It's great that we have returned the title of Olympic champions

Vyacheslav Bykov, mentor of the “golden draft” of the St. Petersburg army men, who together with Igor Zakharkin led SKA to the long-awaited victory in the Gagarin Cup last spring, sent his regards to all St. Petersburg fans through the correspondent of Sport Day after Day, remembered bright moments championship season, and also shared his opinion about the situation in the Neva team that developed after his departure.

The main thing in tandem is unanimity

I regret that the result now is not what everyone expected. Apparently, there is some explanation for such a start, objective reasons. Of course, I remember the winning season. It was a great honor for me to lead SKA in principle. Play in a beautiful city with the same inimitable audience. For me in life it was like a great souvenir, so to speak.

- Souvenir?

Yes. And another interesting sports challenge.

Probably, such plots as in the Gagarin Cup semi-finals with CSKA only exist in fairy tales. It is important to believe that the impossible is possible. As our magnificent singer Bilan sings.

At the presentation of the team, Gennady Timchenko, the president of the army club, said that it was not easy to persuade you to take the post of head coach of SKA. This is true?

Indeed, certain difficulties arose ... To some extent, it was because of them that I left at the end of last season (sighs). But these are personal, family things. I don't think it's worth talking about them. In any case, I am very happy that we managed to achieve a result. One could only dream of this. Probably, such plots as in the Gagarin Cup semi-finals with CSKA only exist in fairy tales. It is important to believe that the impossible is possible. As our magnificent singer Bilan sings.

Your tandem with Igor Zakharkin was nicknamed Biz by the fans. But now Igor Vladimirovich went on a free voyage. He headed Salavat. And many are wondering: will he cope without you? Skeptics doubt...

I am by no means a skeptic. I'm an optimist. I am glad that Igor was entrusted with this position in Salavat. I think he is a good professional. And he should succeed.

- When you worked in tandem, how did you distribute responsibilities?

Here it is impossible to say that one was responsible for this, the other for that. The fact is that we have the same philosophy of life and sports. Igor and I have the same views on many things, and we could understand each other perfectly. On the other hand, we still distinguished some things so as not to get confused in the wilds of the coaching profession. But the most important thing is that unity of mind has always helped us. We didn't always agree with each other. Sometimes there were frictions, but reason always prevailed, and we came to a compromise.

- You said - one philosophy. Can it be summed up in two words?

Slogans are inappropriate here. I was once asked, “How would you describe yourself as a coach?” He answered as follows: “I am quite democratic, as a person. I respect the human person. And at the same time I am a dictator. But this is the dictatorship of professionalism.”

- That is, you can be free as a person, but you must know your business ...

Undoubtedly. Personal life and everything connected with it is your business. But as a professional, you must do your job with honor and dignity.

Igor Vladimirovich invited you to Salavat? In general, it is strange to return there. You seem to have left Ufa with a scandal...

At that time, the management simply did not want to renew the contract with us. But this is their right: we are employees and respect the opinion of our employers. So we shook hands and parted ways. Peter, I had to leave solely for my personal, family circumstances. Therefore, in the current season, in any case, I would not work anywhere. I can't stay away from my family all the time. I would consider some other position that does not require a permanent presence.

- Like a consultant?

Yes.

They thought to unite Kovalchuk with Shipachev and Dadonov

- (Laughs.) I don’t have a rocking chair, whiskey, or cigar. And I do not indulge in this. Get used to living here and now, not looking far ahead. It is important to feel and enjoy life in this moment time. And we'll see. Closer to the summer, something will become clearer. So, as they say, wait and see. I don't think I'll go far from hockey. This is my life. Of course, anything can happen, but until I got fed up with hockey. And now I'm not sitting idle either - I'm helping Fribourg. I am a member of the supervisory board of the club. I present them my view of hockey.

- They're lucky...

I don't know, me too. Everything must be looked at from different angles.

- Let's get back to SKA. What did not work for Nazarov? Why such a failure?

This is a very subtle, slippery and delicate issue. Very complicated. Without being inside the team, without knowing what is happening inside, discussing this topic is, firstly, unethical, and secondly, unprofessional. I think Andrei, together with the team managers, should have discussed everything and found the reason. And report to higher authorities. Most likely, it was. I want to reassure the fans: the season is not coming to an end. Everything is just beginning, and everything can be fixed.

Nazarov can hardly be called a calm person. He, if necessary, can put pressure on the guys properly. But not everyone likes it...

I don't know, honestly. It's like school here. There are teachers and there are students. Sometimes educators. And here, “slaps” alone will not help the cause. In any team - be it hockey team or a business team - you need to find the leverage that will act on the staff. And it is important that the staff was a mountain for you. Everyone wants the same goal. Everyone has their own methods, which he considers successful. It is clear that coaching is an emotional sphere of activity. Psychologically difficult. Things happen.

Zubov can reach serious heights in the coaching profession.

- What can you say about Sergei Zubov as a coach? After all, you took him to your coaching staff.

We will all have to see, feel and understand what kind of coach Sergey Zubov is. It's one thing to be an assistant, it's another to Main coach. Here you are responsible for everything, and decisions sometimes need to be made instantly. Sergey has a huge playing experience and sufficient coaching experience in working with various specialists. He has a very good trait: he is learning all the time. Do not hesitate to ask, interested. It seems to me that he can reach serious heights in this profession.

- Recently SKA has signed a contract with Vyacheslav Voinov. Would you like such a player in your team?

Any coach and club in our league, and maybe in the NHL, would like to acquire such a player. Stanley Cups are not just won. And in Russia, he showed great promise before he left. In addition, he is a candidate for the Russian national team. Good purchase. A strong player who is able to stabilize certain lanes and solve serious problems. I hope he gets back in shape soon.

- He missed a year. It's a lot?

On the one hand, a lot, on the other hand, his muscular and psychological memory has been preserved. There is a hunger for the game. All this will quickly bring him into the necessary tone. I don't think anyone will even notice that he hasn't played for a year.

- Panarin left for the NHL, and Kovalchuk recently took his place in the top three with Shipachyov and Dadonov ...

Actually, that's what we wanted to do at the time. But it's one thing to want it, it's another thing to try and succeed. It seems to me that these players are able to find mutual understanding very quickly. And to find subtle moves that are not subject to reading opponents.

Panarin and Tikhonov said: “If you don’t take the Cup, we won’t let you go to the NHL”

Did you remember that a team that, to put it mildly, started the season unimportantly, then suddenly reached the final and won?

In my coaching practice, fortunately, there was no such beginning of the season. But there were stories when the team literally jumped into the last car of the departing train, got into the playoffs and then became the champion. It was in Switzerland. As for SKA, I repeat, we cannot answer the question why it happened and what contributed to it. In any case, the athlete is drawn to victories. His nature is like that. Sometimes, when a team is fighting for a place in the top eight, it accumulates all the energy. Here is selflessness, and the desire to win, and mutual assistance ... It is at such moments that character is formed. During this race. And when a team achieves its cherished goal, getting into the top eight with a fight, it becomes very dangerous for rivals. Because these guys have gone through a very difficult path - from failures to the formation of the core, the “backbone” necessary for victory. This is already a very dangerous car. So everything is possible.

Last season, after a difficult series with CSKA, did your team become that same death machine? You then, probably, spoiled a lot of nerves ...

- (Laughs.) Our fan club spoiled my nerves. When we lost three games in the regular season and they called me to the scaffold. That's when my nerves passed the test. But it was very fair of them. And we understood each other. Explained. Questions were asked and answered. Respecting, I emphasize this word, each other, they joined hands and went on to victory. Together. As for games, it's better not to concentrate on the nerves - there will be no benefit.

- Are you going to visit St. Petersburg at all?

Invite - I will definitely come.

- I will personally send you an invitation card ...

- (Laughs.) In fact, I was just happy to work in St. Petersburg and live there for a whole year. Made a lot of friends, wonderful friends! Loved this city. He experienced a lot on the banks of the Neva. The army team will forever remain in my heart.

Yes, I forgot to ask. Your "chicks" - Panarin and Tikhonov - flew out of the nest. Now they play in the NHL...

And I told them during the championship: if we don’t win the Gagarin Cup, I will never let them go! We agreed with them. They can confirm. He said: win - leave. No, stay at home. I'm happy for the guys: Artemy fits into the Chicago game, and Viktor also feels useful, finds his game. Unfortunately, last year Viti did not turn out the way he wanted, and all of us wanted. There were many too serious reasons for this. But the fact that Tikhonov gave his all is a fact. Year after year is not necessary. I think everything should work out now.

It is important that Tikhonov speaks to Panarin only in English.

- Panarin does not speak English. It will go hard with him?

He is a sociable guy, instantly grabs everything. The main condition is that Victor speaks only English with him! It is important. Artemy must be thrown into the water, and let him swim up. But he is talented in everything, he will succeed.

- The Canada Cup is being revived. Do you think it will not become more important than the Olympics for hockey players?

Of course he is needed. Any event of this kind is necessary for the development of hockey. And this is a great event! It passes in the summer. Olympics - in winter. Tournaments do not overlap. After all, the Champions League in football is held every year and is becoming more and more popular. Such competitions are very important: young players compare themselves with others, coaches and specialists gain world experience. I repeat once again: any tournament is important for the promotion of our sport.

Huge greetings from me to all our fans. Tell me I remember them. We went through a very interesting season together and achieved success together. It can not be in any other way. And the fact that they called me then on the carpet is correct. We are like one family, and in the family you need to talk.

|To the topic

SKA fan Mikhail Dudkovsky: We remember Bykov with a kind word

One of the leaders of the SKA fan movement, Mikhail Dudkovsky, told a story about a meeting between army team fans and Vyacheslav Bykov during the last season, which former mentor SKA remembered in a conversation with the correspondent of "Sports Day after Day".

The conversation with Bykov took place at the end of January, - said Mikhail. - After the defeats of the army team from Slovan and Atlanta. The team then played no matter, and it happened on the eve of the playoffs. After one of the matches, we all stayed in the sector and invited the coach to talk. And he came. What feelings did I have from that conversation? The conversation turned out to be constructive - both for Vyacheslav Arkadievich and for us. The fact that he came out to us caused a certain respect for the coach. He said that it is very difficult for the team, and we add fuel to the fire with our negative actions. The fans replied that they called him precisely because they were worried about the result. And they want to add emotions to the team.

Why didn't Nazarov get called this season?

Don't know. It was probably too early. Didn't feel connected to him. In fact, everything was clear with Andrei Viktorovich. Obviously he was hanging by a thread.

- Do Bykov's fans often remember?

We remember. kind word. The team won with him, achieved great success, which, unfortunately, does not happen this season. I would like to thank him for last season. I hope he continues his coaching career. And most importantly, what I would like to say is that this season the team has moved away from us, the fans. You could say we were separated from her. If we could communicate with the players, we could say something to their faces. As if our hands were removed from the pulse of SKA.

Russian coach Vyacheslav Bykov spoke about his departure from SKA, and also gave his assessment of the situations in the career of his football colleagues Fabio Capello and Murat Yakin.

Vyacheslav Bykov / Photo: Elena Razina

Sorry, but I can't say more than what is written in the press release on the club's website. I simply have nothing to add to this.

- Family circumstances hit you suddenly? Or was the decision to part with SKA long overdue?

It came up during the season. And now it has become so aggravated that a decision had to be made. Which is what I did. My decision has nothing to do with health. In this regard, everything is in order. I don't want outsiders to intrude on my personal life. Although their interest is also understandable. But in those parts, as they say, trains do not go. I just want to note that sometimes circumstances are stronger than our desires. Therefore, we have to make such unpopular, in the opinion of the outside, decisions.

- At the parade of champions in St. Petersburg, where 150 thousand fans visited, did you already know that you would have to leave SKA?

I will not hide: the decision was already brewing then.

- Did SKA react with understanding to such a turn?

I'm not looking for understanding. This is my private life and I am free to do what I feel comfortable with.

What legacy are you leaving to your successor? Panarin left for Chicago, Tikhonov is going to Arizona, four legionnaires left, and only one came - Koskiranta from Siberia. Plus national team defender Yakovlev. We need to form a new line of attack.

And yet I think the backbone of the team managed to keep. And selection work will continue until mid-December. I think SKA will be able to strengthen, as it did last year. There is a group of young people that we pulled up to the squad last season. And I would like to wish the guys who are leaving not to drop the bar in new teams. They should be able to.

Bykov resigned as head coach of SKA

- By the way, who do you see as your successor?

Question from the same plane. If I name a specific person, it will cause an unhealthy stir on the Internet, which is the last thing I would like. And I want to become a successor Russian specialist. By the way, we called up with whom some media managed to woo in SKA, and a wave arose. Oleg - my friend and countryman - is extremely outraged by this stuffing of information. So write: the rumor about the arrival of Znark in St. Petersburg is nothing but speculation and provocation.

Your coaching career spans ten years. Are you going to finish it? In August, you will turn 55, just at this age the great Anatoly Tarasov finished coaching, except for his one-year football trip to CSKA.

You know, I try to stick to the motto: "never say never." A couple of years ago, in an interview, I suggested that after SKA I could finish with big hockey. Now you're pulling my tongue. Now I can only say: I will miss the next season. I will devote time to my family. On June 20, my granddaughter Vanyushka will be half a year old. It's such a blessing to be a babysitter! Now I know what it's like to be a grandfather. Incidentally, this is one of the reasons for my decision.

You mentioned that you would like to see SKA at the helm Russian coach. How do you feel about the unfolding campaign to remove Italian football team coach Fabio Capello? Did you watch the match with the Austrian national team?

Fabio Capello / Photo: Vasily Ponomarev

Alas, I looked. And saw full advantage Austrians. Their class is higher. But this is not a reason to throw mud at our players. They lack some kind of push. I'm sure they know how to play. Now we have to learn how to win. I remember at the dawn of my coaching career Pyotr Ilyich Vorobyov after the defeat of CSKA from his "Lada" said: "Playing well and winning are two different things." Oh, and then these words hooked me. Now I understand that experienced trainer was right. After all, the Italian was invited, having weighed all the pros and cons, not out of the blue. It is known at what level the decision was made and who is behind it. It's not easy to backtrack. It's not even a multi-million dollar forfeit. And who will guarantee that his "cheap" replacement will start to win? As long as there is still a chance to qualify for the European Championship, albeit through play-offs, we need to think about the game.

- By the way, did Murat Yakin's departure from Spartak cause a resonance in Switzerland?

Not too loud. Especially since he finalized the season to the end. After all, he was invited to Spartak not at random, probably after analyzing the game of Murat's former team, Basel. Unfortunately, in Russia it did not work out. However, this is not a reason to stigmatize a specialist, to stick labels on him. I hope SKA fans won't stigmatize me for leaving their favorite team.

Vyacheslav Bykov: "We are growing a gray mass of players who are afraid to dribble"

When Vyacheslav Bykov is not coaching hockey clubs, he lives in Switzerland and occasionally speaks at business trainings. Correspondents reviewed a three-hour performance by the most successful Russian coach of the last ten years.

About Me

When the Swiss ask about my hometown, I answer them:

“You definitely know this place. There the meteorite landed.
- Yes, yes, yes, Chelyabinsk!
– But this is the second Chelyabinsk meteorite.
- When was the first one?
– When I landed in Switzerland.

I am grateful to my parents for a very good upbringing. It was based on love and respect for work. My mom still works at kindergarten laundress. I grew up in the same garden.

My father was a professional tailor. Sheathed me and my sister, customized my equipment. When bell-bottoms came into fashion, we butted heads with him. I said: "Let's make 42 centimeters." - "No, 37." - "But why? Come on 42!” He said: "Okay, I'll do 42." But I did it anyway 37. My father died in 2006, when I was supposed to fly with the national team to my first stage of the Eurotour to the Czech Republic. I flew to Chelyabinsk to say goodbye to him - and almost immediately had to fly to the tournament.

About hockey

Hockey is not such a difficult sport to understand. There are two teams, there are two gates. Who scored more, he won. And to know which lines were removed for what and who was removed for what - this is not so important for the general public. We rejoice when a stadium is a third full of women and children, because they are more open about their emotions. And the players are responsible for ensuring that you get these emotions. At the last meeting of the season, I always tell the guys: “You have one of the most interesting and cool professions, because you can not only feed your egoism with money, not only get pleasure from what you play, but you can also give joy to millions of people” . It is important to be aware and feel. Hockey is close to the Russian soul: speed, speed, unpredictability, improvisation, I can’t go through - this is inherent in a Russian person.

About intonation

A Russian person functions on how you touch his nature. A striking example is the work of a coach during a break. We give players 10 minutes to relax so they can collect their thoughts. What’s more, they talk to each other. At this time, we are conducting a serious analysis, and then my task is to go out and give a task for the next period within one or two minutes. And then they see how I go out, in what manner I start the conversation.

The most important thing is intonation. To choose it correctly, you must feel your team - and either cheer up or calm down. A shout can also be used, but, for example, you can break loose on an arbitrator if you need to get guys.

Or you pull out one player and in the case revealingly write him full tomatoes, and the rest look and react. And all these showman things are not just like that.

About protecting your players

One of my functions as a coach is to be a bumper between players and information. I have to take everything upon myself, to slow down all external informational influence on my players. And so it was during the World Championships.

I will never go and find out what they do in their free time and what restaurants they sit in. If I don't trust my guys, what kind of a father am I, a coach? Whatever mistake they make, I have a duty to protect them. People may be surprised by these words - well, what do you need to protect these guys from, many of whom are under two meters tall and weighing over a hundred kilograms and who are not afraid to go into the toughest collisions on the ice. But outside the ice, these are ordinary people. Here, for example, Alexander Radulov. It's fire! But he is a very vulnerable person. If you knew him as I know him, you wouldn't believe him.

About personality

Before going into this profession, I was interested in working with children, because children are people who need to be explained everything thoroughly. It was to an adult that you said: “You are missing the next shift,” and he knows why, and with a child you have to go down to his level and explain. It is important for me to know my players as individuals, to know what problems they have in the family, what they breathe. It's respect for the individual, anyway.

If you build the right relationships and can win the respect and affection of the players, it will give you the opportunity to move towards success. I can drink a glass of wine with them at dinner, but there was not a single case of familiarity. Our respect is mutual.

On trying to influence coaches

I won’t name the club, but once, let’s say, external experts came down to me from the box and started telling me how the team should play. "Remove this player, put this one in." It was unpleasant. I tell them: “Do you want to change jackets? I will give you my seat." They understood me and didn't come back.

About creating a team

To build a team, you need a philosophy. You must understand what kind of team you will have, due to which it will win. And already under the philosophy you recruit hockey players. We tried to get into the soul, into the skin of each player, to understand how he can adapt to a pair, a triple, a five, a team.

Technical and tactical training is important. But the most important vein of a player is whether he is ready to fight or not. And the coach must feel the characters of the players in order to find compatibility. I repeat: for me the most important thing is personality. And only then - the sports component.

About reforms in hockey

To get good potatoes, you need to feed them, and not dig them up the next day after planting. Since 2007, we have been pointing out the need for reforms. We were not heard. You see, you can speak - and they will listen to you, but not hear you. It is necessary to infuse all the new technologies that are in the world into the development of youth sports and educate coaches with a different mentality. Then the base will expand, there will be competition and we will be able to easily recruit players from the KHL. And let's do without nightly prayers: "If only Washington lost and our saviors arrived."

About someone else's experience

The Swiss began to seriously work with young people. I see how they train coaches. what level of specialists are invited to work, how they pull everything new out of them. We need to invest in our hockey. The Danes, Norwegians invite specialists to their place and draw out new technologies from them, how to prepare children. You won’t develop speed in a player when he is already 20 years old. This must be done earlier. Science can and should be useful to hockey - that's why we wanted to pull up RSUPC, create a department that would explore new technologies. Do not inject meldonium, but give something new. And we need all these new techniques not to remain in the capitals, but go to the regions. So that any hockey coach, whether from Ossetia or Sakhalin, has access to this information.

About the gray mass

I hate it when coaches, especially children's coaches, shout: “Don't drive! Give it a pass! Don't hold the puck! Pass it!" It's like a knife to the heart. Children do not need to be driven into such a framework at all. They have the right to make mistakes. With all these "don't hold the puck" we kill creativity in children and grow up a gray mass of players who are afraid to dribble. On the contrary, children need to be encouraged, encouraged to this creativity. I tried to circle, it didn’t work out - it's okay, try again. A sense of distance, game courage - everything is instilled at this age. In adult hockey, you can do this: up to the red line you play according to the instructions and scheme, and after the red line - try, take risks. We have to give the players freedom of creativity and improvisation, because Russian hockey players are prone to this. Take the same Swedes: they have a colossal reproduction of players, they skate excellently, they are tactically and technically well trained. But non-standard movements and situations often unsettle them.

What advice would I give to parents: in no case do not become your children's coach. They have a trainer in the section. There is a teacher at the school. And if the coach is also waiting at home, then the child will simply close up. From parents, children should receive only support, empathy and help.

I learned a lot from working with children. Imagine, 10-year-old hockey players come to practice after school, they have boiling energy. And, when you start to explain the exercises, there is still such hubbub. So the quieter I started to speak, the better they perceived. Because well, you shout once, well, twice, and then they stop noticing. Shouting is not the method that will give the desired effect.

About Zakharkin

I was lucky to work with Igor. He has a pedagogical education, he is a professor, he taught at the department of the Russian State University of Physical Culture, worked with Tikhonov, even when I was playing. Then we started talking, became friends and agreed: when I finish playing, we will find each other and work together. We are always on the same wavelength. And the brainstorming never stops. This is very valuable. We didn't hesitate to ask each other even stupid questions. Because thinking can lead to something interesting.

On working in the NHL and getting back in business

I am an anti-enhaelite. I will never go there. What about returning to coaching A: My granddaughter is 16 months old. This is post number one! We used to see families for half an hour. I came home, and my daughter hid behind her mother. So now I am seizing the moment with my grandson. These are such emotions... Inexpressibly.

I just want to wish everyone: feel the passion for your work. Love people. Respect people. Try to hear people. It's hard without it.

Text: Vadim Tikhomirov, Alexander Lyutikov

Photo: RIA Novosti/Igor Russak; RIA Novosti/Alexey Filippov; RIA Novosti / Grigory Sysoev; RIA Novosti/Alexander Wilf; photo.khl.ru

Famous Russian and Soviet hockey player and hockey coach Vyacheslav Bykov was born in 1960, on July 24 in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk. Hockey role - center forward. Vyacheslav Bykov is a 5-time ice hockey world champion, a two-time champion Olympic Games. Vyacheslav Bykov is the head coach of the Russian national ice hockey team and is an Honored Coach of Russia.
Vyacheslav Bykov is not only a Russian citizen, but also a Swiss citizen, whose citizenship he acquired in 2003. The son of Vyacheslav Bykov (his name is Andrey) also plays hockey at the Fribourg-Gotteron hockey club, and has even played for the youth teams of the Swiss Confederation.
Vyacheslav Bykov from 1979 to 1982 played for the Chelyabinsk Traktor hockey club. From 1982 to 1990, Vyacheslav Bykov was a player in CSKA (Central sport Club army). From 1990 to 1998, Vyacheslav Bykov played in the Swiss hockey club "Friborg-Gotteron", and from 1998 to 2000 - in the hockey club "Lausanne".
In 1983, Vyacheslav Bykov was awarded the honorary title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. Vyacheslav Bykov played 430 matches in the USSR hockey championships, in which he scored 195 goals. During the 1989-1990 hockey season Vyacheslav Bykov was included in the symbolic national hockey team of the USSR.
In 1986, a survey was conducted for the title of the best hockey player in the USSR. In it, hockey player Vyacheslav Bykov took fifth place, three years later he became second, and in 1990 - third. Vyacheslav Bykov first appeared as a player in the USSR national ice hockey team in 1982, on September 8, a month before the death of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. This happened in the city of Bratislava, where the USSR-Czechoslovakia game was held (as we remember, then it was one country, not two, as it is now) for the prize of the Rude Pravo newspaper. And the first goal in the game, which ended with a score of 7-4 in our favor, was scored by Vyacheslav Bykov.
After completing his career as a hockey player Vyacheslav Bykov took up coaching. He worked as a coach at the Swiss hockey club Friborg-Gotteron. Five years - from April 2004 to April 2009 Vyacheslav Bykov worked as a head coach hockey club CSKA. From August 2006 to May this year, 2011, Vyacheslav Bykov was the head coach of the Russian national ice hockey team. Four years ago, in 2007, the Russian national ice hockey team, headed by coach Vyacheslav Bykov, took third place at the Ice Hockey World Championship (it was held in Russia). And the very next year, 2008 in Canada and in 2009 in Switzerland, the Russian national hockey team, Russia, was able to win gold medals at the world championships. At the 2010 Olympics in the Canadian city of Vancouver, the Russian national hockey team lost in the fourth final to the Canadians with a score of 3-7, and at the world championship in Germany lost in the final battle to the Czech national hockey team. This year, at the World Hockey Championship in Slovakia, the Russian national hockey team could not win any medals at all, and on May 26 of this, 2011, the head coach of the Russian national hockey team, Vyacheslav Bykov, was fired.
Vyacheslav Bykov in 2004 was elected to the national hockey hall of fame. May 2009 Vyacheslav Bykov became the head coach of the Ufa hockey club "Salavat Yulaev", which plays in the KHL (Continental hockey league). Under his leadership, Salavat in the last hockey season 2009-2010 won bronze at the Russian Ice Hockey Championship. And in the spring of 2011 "Salavat Yulaev" won the Gagarin Cup. For unknown reasons, the contract with Vyacheslav Bykov was not extended by the Ufa club.