Vyacheslav Arkadevich "Slava" Bykov (, born 24 July 1960) is a

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player and a former head coach of the Russian national hockey team. A small, technically gifted

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

, he was a regular fixture on the

Soviet national ice hockey team The Soviet national ice hockey team was the national men's ice hockey team of the Soviet Union. From 1954 to 1991, the team won at least one medal each year at either the Ice Hockey World Championships or the Olympic hockey tournament. After ...

in the 1980s; after the fall of the Soviet Union, he played for the Russian team in the 1990s. He was drafted by the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...

in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft in the 9th round at number 169 overall. He opted, however, not to play in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

, playing in Russia and Europe. He was inducted into the

IIHF Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Interna ...

in 2014.

Playing career

Bykov started out playing for the team of his home city,

Traktor Chelyabinsk Traktor Chelyabinsk, also known as Traktor, or HC Traktor Chelyabinsk, () is a professional ice hockey club based in Chelyabinsk, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). From 1967 to 2009, the te ...

in 1979.Great Olympic Encyclopedia, vol.1-2, Moscow:Olympia Press Publisher, 2006, entry on "Вячеслав Быков", availabl
Moscow:Olympia Press Publisher
. After three years, he went to play for powerhouse

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

. While at CSKA Moscow, he became a regular on the Soviet national team and later the Russian team, taking part in the following international tournaments: * With the Soviet Union: ** 1983 World Championships (Gold) ** 1985 World Championships (Bronze) ** 1986 World Championships (Gold) ** 1987 World Championships (Silver) **

1987 Canada Cup The 1987 Labatt Canada Cup was a professional international ice hockey tournament held from August 28 to September 15, 1987. The finals took place in Montreal on September 11 and Hamilton, on September 13 and September 15, and were won by Team ...

(Silver) **

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

(Gold) ** 1989 World Championships (Gold) With the Unified Team: **

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

(Gold) With Russia: ** 1993 World Championships (Gold) ** 1995 World Championships (5th place) In 1990, Bykov went to play with

HC Fribourg-Gottéron HC Fribourg-Gottéron is a professional ice hockey team based in Fribourg, Switzerland, which competes in the National League (ice hockey), National League (NL). The team was the sixth most attended team in Switzerland for the 2015–16 season wit ...

in the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

Nationalliga A. He ended an illustrious playing career in 2000, having played the last two seasons with

HC Lausanne Lausanne Hockey Club is an ice hockey team based in the city of Lausanne, Switzerland, which competes in the National League (NL). During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, the HC Lausanne signed National Hockey League players Martin St. Louis and Andy Ro ...

in the Nationalliga B. He was inducted into the

in 2014.

Coaching career

Russian national team

On 10 August 2006, Bykov was named as the new head coach of the Russian national hockey team, taking over from

Vladimir Krikunov Vladimir Vasilievich Krikunov (, born March 24, 1950) is retired Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian ice hockey player and former head coach of Russia men's national ice hockey team, team Russia. He is currently a coach of the Kontinental Hockey Leag ...

. At the 2007 World Championship in Moscow, his team won the bronze medal. Then, on 18 May 2008, he won 2008 World Championships Gold in Quebec with the team, and on 10 May 2009 again in Bern. After losing 3–7 to Canada and finishing 6th at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

and failing to win gold in two subsequent WCs, he was fired by the RHF. * 2007 World Championships (Bronze) * 2008 World Championships (Gold) * 2009 World Championships (Gold) *

(6th) * 2010 World Championships (Silver) * 2011 World Championships (4th)

CSKA

From 28 April 2004 to 4 April 2009, Bykov worked as the head coach of

. The best results during this period were the semi-finals of the

Russian Superleague The Russian Superleague (, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was considered the second-best league in the world, after the Nation ...

and the quarter-finals of the

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

Salavat Yulaev

Salavat Yulaev Ufa Hockey Club Salavat Yulaev (; ), commonly referred as Salavat Yulaev Ufa, is a professional ice hockey club based in Ufa, Russia. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Established in 1957, Salavat Yu ...

named Bykov as new head coach on 14 May 2009 starting from the 2009–2010 season. After winning the Continental Cup and taking bronze in 2009–2010, he won the

Gagarin Cup The Gagarin Cup () is the trophy presented to the winner of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) playoffs, and is named after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. The Cup was supposedly named after Gagarin because the last po ...

with Salavat Yulaev in 2010–2011.

SKA Saint Petersburg

SKA Saint Petersburg Hockey Club SKA (), often referred to as SKA Saint Petersburg and literally as the Sports Club of the Army, is a professional ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey Le ...

appointed Bykov as new head coach on 4 April 2014. He signed a two-year contract with an option for a one-year extension. In his first season with the team, Bykov coached SKA to their first ever Gagarin Cup win, becoming the first coach to win the Gagarin Cup with two different teams.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Personal life

He is married and has two children. In 2003, he became a naturalised Swiss citizen, and his family now lives in Marly, Switzerland. He is of Mari descent. In 2023, Bykov slammed the NHL for barring Russian players from bringing the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

to Russia, stating he would never watch NHL games again.Вячеслав Быков: «НХЛ больше не существует для меня – потеряла уважение, политизированная организация. Американцы и канадцы не возят к себе Кубок Гагарина»
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bykov, Vyacheslav 1960 births Living people HC CSKA Moscow players HC Fribourg-Gottéron players Ice hockey players at the 1988 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1992 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Lausanne HC players Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team Olympic ice hockey players for the Soviet Union Olympic ice hockey players for the Unified Team Ice hockey people from Chelyabinsk Quebec Nordiques draft picks Russia men's national ice hockey team coaches Russian ice hockey centres Russian ice hockey coaches Soviet expatriate ice hockey players Soviet expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Soviet ice hockey centres Russian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Russian expatriate ice hockey people Traktor Chelyabinsk players Olympic medalists in ice hockey Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland