Mikhail Vasiliev

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vasiliev was born on 8 June 1962 in Elektrogorsk, Moscow Oblast, then in the Russian SFSR. From the age of eight he travelled repeatedly from Elektrogorsk into Moscow to train in the CSKA hockey school, a commute of roughly 75 kilometres that he later recalled making alone with a backpack and sandwiches. By his mid-teens he had moved into the CSKA boarding system and played for the club's junior sides under coaches including Alexander Ragulin.

Vasiliev debuted for CSKA Moscow's senior team in 1980 and became a regular left wing through the 1980s, winning eight Soviet league titles (1981-1988) and a Soviet Cup. He scored 99 goals in 299 Soviet league games for CSKA and Torpedo Yaroslavl. For the Soviet national team he won the 1983 World Championship, Olympic gold at Sarajevo 1984, World bronze in 1985 and World silver in 1987, and appeared at the 1984 Canada Cup. After 1989 he played for Torpedo Yaroslavl, then in Italy (Selva, Varese, EV Bozen 84, HC Bolzano) and Denmark (Rodovre), winning two Italian championships with Bolzano. He was inducted into the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983. After retiring in 2001 he coached in Italy, with Russian and Belarusian U18 teams, Krasnaya Armiya (MHL silver 2014), Toros, Tolpar, Salavat Yulaev (2020-2022), Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, and SKA Saint Petersburg.

Public reporting on Vasiliev's private family life is limited. Colleagues including Igor Larionov emphasised his character as much as his medals, describing him as a hard worker and a decent man. He remained closely identified with the CSKA system that raised him from childhood and with the Italian clubs where he spent much of the 1990s.

Vasiliev died on 5 November 2026 at the age of 64. Salavat Yulaev announced the death on 6 November; SKA Saint Petersburg confirmed he had been on the senior coaching staff for about a season and a half. Igor Larionov told TASS that Vasiliev had battled lung cancer for five years and that he had been with him in a Moscow hospital in his final days. Cause of death was reported as lung cancer.

Vasiliev stands among the last generation of CSKA and Soviet national-team forwards to win both an Olympic gold and a World title in the mid-1980s. His long Italian playing career and later coaching path, from Krasnaya Armiya to Salavat Yulaev, Torpedo and SKA, extended his influence into the KHL era. Hall of Fame induction in 1983 and the tributes of 2026 mark him as both a decorated player and a respected coach.