Detroit Red Wings

Former Red Wings D Bautin dead at 55

Bautin was 1992 Olympic gold medalist

Published

1 year ago

January 3, 2023

Bob Duff

Sergei Bautin played for the Red Wings in 1993-94.

Sergei Bautin was an Olympic gold medal winner. He twice performed in the World Championship. For one game, he was also a member of the Detroit Red Wings.

Bautin died Monday at the age of 55 following a long illness. In 1992, Bautin was part of the Unified Team that won the gold medal at the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France.

Following the Olympics, he was among the early wave of Russian players jumping to play in the NHL. would be joining the Winnipeg Jets. It was during his second season in Winnipeg that the Jets were trading Bautin. He came to the Red Wings with Bob Essensa for Tim Cheveldae and Dallas Drake.

Enligt uppgift har en av våra hårdaste spelare genom tiderna – Sergei Bautin – avlidit efter en tids sjukdom.

Vila i frid #3. pic.twitter.com/g07n2CIfsa

— Luleå Hockey (@LuleaHockey) January 2, 2023

He made one appearance for the Red Wings the rest of the campaign. Bautin would be suiting up for the season finale against the Dallas Stars on April 13, 1994. Wearing No. 29, he would finish the game plus-1. In doing so, he could boast of playing for two of hockey’s legendary coaches – Detroit’s Scotty Bowman and Soviet national team coach Viktor Tikhonov.

It would be his only appearance for the club. Bautin spent the 1994-95 season with the AHL Adirondack Red Wings. The San Jose Sharks would be signing him for his NHL swan song in 1995-96. The next season, Bautin would head to Europe. Playing for Lulea, he would be leading the Swedish League with 113 penalty minutes.

Moscow Dynamo Mourns Passing of Bautin

Moscow Dynamo of the KHL, the Russian team for which Bautin played prior to coming to the NHL, issued a statement announcing his death.

“Dynamo expresses condolences to the family and friends of Sergei Viktorovich,” the statement read. “This is an irreplaceable loss for the Dynamo family.

“We mourn with you.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, Bautin was living in the Greater Denver area, where he was serving as the Hockey Director at Evolution Elite Hockey Academy. He had his Level 4 USA Hockey coaching certificate and was showing coaching experience in his resume in Dallas and Kansas City, as well as in Russia.