Tyutin giving back to Columbus hockey community as a coach

Although known for his time as a defenseman in Columbus, Fedor Tyutin has found a passion coaching the next generation of Blue Jackets within the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets organization.

Tyutin played eight seasons for the Blue Jackets, where he featured in 553 games – second most ever for a CBJ blueliner – and recorded 39 goals and 185 points.

Now, he is the head coach of the 16U AAA Blue Jackets and has led them to a 34-22 record this season. The Blue Jackets went 2-2-0 this weekend at the T1EHL playoffs this weekend in Blaine, Minn., and they have won 10 of their last 13 games.

Although Tyutin is now in his sixth year with the AAA Blue Jackets, this was never in his plans after his 13-year NHL playing career.

“When I retired from playing, I had no plans,” he said. “My plan was to stay home and coach my own kids and be a dad, be present. That was my plan. And somehow I stopped at the rink one of these days and got offered to help out, and here I am. What is this, my sixth year, or something like that? Yeah, time flies.”

However, this has been a welcome challenge for Tyutin as he has grown a passion for this work and has loved being able to give back to the youth of Central Ohio.

Tyutin, 41, previously served as the AAA Blue Jackets head coach for the 2007 birth year for three seasons at the 13U, 14U and 15O levels and spent last season as an assistant coach with the 18U team.

“It feels like I'm still doing the same thing and getting the same kind of atmosphere compared to when I was playing,” he said. “It's pretty competitive. Even as a coach on the bench, it still gets pretty competitive and stuff. I love that about it.”

Every year, Columbus has grown as a hockey market as more of the city’s youth have taken the sport on since the Blue Jackets arrived in town in the year 2000.

That has been something Tyutin wants to encourage. While he originally hails from Izhevsk, Russia, his time playing in Columbus has led to him, his wife Sarah and their three kids to call the city home.

“Every year you can see more kids signing up for tryouts and better kids looking to come and join teams here,” Tyutin said. “It's been growing and good to see a lot of young kids coming. That's how I think, as a community, you get better over time. You want to involve as many kids as you can to become some stars and players.”

Having Tyutin around is a boost to the program as well. Ed Gingher, president of the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets, said that his résumé speaks for itself, and having that level of experience – Tyutin played nearly 900 NHL games – in the organization goes a long way.

“For him to be eager and wanting to give back and teach and coach kids in our program and Columbus-area kids, it's obviously huge,” Gingher said. “His playing career is very impressive. But him as a person, him as a coach, it's been really fun to see him jump in with both feet and wanting to teach and wanting to help. He absolutely loves it. We're very fortunate, and our players are fortunate, that he's a part of the program.”

Gingher now has the program in a really great place with the community it has built. He is proud and excited to see where it will go from here as the players, coaches and parents all lead it to bigger and better things.

“I'm very proud of where the program is at,” Gingher said. “We've been very fortunate that I think a lot of the success the program has had has been built around good people. That's good people behind the bench coaching, it's good people that are a part of the program from a player and parent perspective.

“Columbus is a special, special place, and for us to be able to be a part of the hockey community here is obviously something that we don't take for granted.”