Vasiļjevs started coaching with an internship with
Dinamo Riga after completing the Russian hockey coaching school after being deemed to have the highest qualification to coach necessary. He then had an internship with his original coach
Viktor Tikhonov. From 1985 to 1990, he was the head coach of
RASMS Riga, the Dinamo Riga farm club. In 1990, he took the head coaching job at
EHC Dortmund and through 1994 brought the team up from the Landesliga to the
2nd Bundesliga. From 1994 to 2001, Vasiļjevs held various coaching positions in the
Krefeld Pinguine organisation, including head coach of the club's Junior team in the
Deutsche Nachwuchs-Liga. In 2000, he received the highest approval from the
Deutscher Eishockey-Bund and received his Level A Head Coach license. He was the assistant coach of the Krefeld from 1998 to 2001. He was the head coach of the Pinguine until 2004. He was later the head coach of
HK Riga 2000.
Latvian national team Vasiļjevs was coach of the
Latvia men's national ice hockey team from 1999 to 2001 and coached in 34 games. He won two tournaments as the head coach: the 1999
World Cup of Hockey qualifier held in
Sheffield,
England and the
Olympic Qualification that was held in
Klagenfurt,
Austria. Under his tutelage, the Latvians best finish at the World Championships was 8th place in 2000. ==Personal life and death==