Sergei Zholtok
{{Short description|Latvian ice hockey player (1972–2004)}}
{{Infobox ice hockey player
| image = Sergejs_Žoltoks.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Žoltoks with Latvia
| birth_date = {{birth date|1972|12|2}}
| birth_place = Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
| death_date = {{death date and age|2004|11|3|1972|12|2}}
| death_place = Minsk, Belarus
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 0
| weight_lb = 185
| position = Centre
| shoots = Right
| played_for = Dinamo Riga
Boston Bruins
Ottawa Senators
Montreal Canadiens
Edmonton Oilers
Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators
Riga 2000
| ntl_team = LVA
| draft = 55th overall
| draft_year = 1992
| draft_team = Boston Bruins
| career_start = 1990
| career_end = 2004
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Ice hockey}}
{{MedalCountry | {{ih|Soviet Union}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|World Junior Championships}}
{{MedalSilver| 1991 Canada|}}
{{MedalCountry | {{ih|Commonwealth of Independent States}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|World Junior Championships}}
{{MedalGold| 1992 Germany|}}
}}
Sergei Zholtok ({{langx|ru|Сергей Жолток}}), also known as Sergejs Žoltoks (December 2, 1972 – November 3, 2004) was a Latvian professional ice hockey centre. He played ten seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators from 1993 to 2004.
Playing career
Žoltoks was drafted 55th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. Prior to being drafted, he won a gold medal with USSR national team in IIHF Junior World Championships in 1992. After playing 25 games with the Boston Bruins in the 1992–93 NHL season and the 1993–94 NHL season, Žoltoks spent the next years playing in minor leagues.
Žoltoks returned to the NHL in the 1996–97 NHL season with the Ottawa Senators. In the following years, he played for the Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild and the Nashville Predators.
During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Žoltoks returned to Latvia and played for Riga 2000 team of the Latvian Hockey Higher League and the Belarusian Extraleague.
= Death =
On November 3, 2004, his cardiac arrhythmia resurfaced during the game between Riga 2000 and Dinamo Minsk. Žoltoks left the game with five minutes remaining, collapsing and dying after returning to the dressing room in the arms of teammate Darby Hendrickson. An autopsy determined heart failure as the cause of death.{{Cite web|last=Noogie|first=The|date=2013-11-03|title=Remembering Sergei Zholtok|url=https://www.hockeywilderness.com/2013/11/3/5059260/remembering-sergei-zholtok|access-date=2021-11-06|website=Hockey Wilderness|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2004-11-04|title=Ex-Pred Zholtok dies of apparent heart ailment|url=https://www.espn.com/nhl/news/story?id=1915711|access-date=2021-11-06|website=ESPN.com|language=en}}{{Cite news|title=Study Adds to Debate over Heart Tests for Athletes|language=en|work=NPR.org|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17973731|access-date=2021-11-06}}{{Cite web|date=2004-11-05|title=Autopsy: Preds' Zholtok died of heart failure|url=https://www.espn.com/nhl/news/story?id=1916658|access-date=2021-11-06|website=ESPN.com|language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Tom |title=Loss of Zholtok saddens many |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2004/11/07/loss-of-zholtok-saddens-many/ |access-date=2021-11-06 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en}} He was survived by his wife, Anna, and two sons. This was not the first occurrence; in January 2003, he had to leave the game due to arrhythmia, and had been observed in a hospital overnight. He was allowed to return to playing after missing seven games.
During his ten seasons in the NHL, he played in 588 regular season games, scored 111 goals and had 147 assists.
Awards and achievements
- 1994: AHL Player of the Week (Dec. 11)
- 1996: Ironman Award, International Hockey League, given to a player who has played in every game for his team and displayed outstanding offensive and defensive skills.
- 2005: Riga Secondary School No. 55 was named in honour of Sergejs Žoltoks.
Career statistics
=Regular season and playoffs=
| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em" | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! colspan="5"|Regular season ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! colspan="5"|Playoffs | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM | ||||||||
| 1989–90
| RASMS Rīga | USSR-3 | — | — | — | — | —
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1990–91 | USSR | 39 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 16
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1991–92
| Stars Rīga | CIS | 27 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 6
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1992–93 | NHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1992–93
| AHL | 64 | 31 | 35 | 66 | 57
| 6 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1993–94 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 24 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1993–94
| Providence Bruins | AHL | 54 | 29 | 33 | 62 | 16
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1994–95 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 78 | 23 | 35 | 58 | 42
| 13 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 6 |
| 1995–96
| IHL | 82 | 51 | 50 | 101 | 30
| 15 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 6 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1996–97 | NHL | 57 | 12 | 16 | 28 | 19
| 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1996–97
| Las Vegas Thunder | IHL | 19 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 20
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1997–98 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 78 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 16
| 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 1998–99
| NHL | 70 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 6
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1998–99 | AHL | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1999–00
| Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 68 | 26 | 12 | 38 | 28
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1999–00 | AHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 2000–01
| Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 32 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 8
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2000–01 | NHL | 37 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 22
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001–02
| NHL | 73 | 19 | 20 | 39 | 28
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2002–03 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 78 | 16 | 26 | 42 | 18
| 18 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 0 |
| 2003–04
| Minnesota Wild | NHL | 59 | 13 | 16 | 29 | 19
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2003–04 | NHL | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2004–05
| BLR | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 12
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals ! 588 !! 111 !! 147 !! 258 !! 166 ! 45 !! 4 !! 14 !! 18 !! 0 |
=International=
| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" ID="Table3" style="text-align:center; width:40em" | ||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Year ! Team ! Event ! rowspan="102" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM | ||||
| 1990
| EJC | 6 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 6 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1991 | Soviet Union | WJC | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 1992
| CIS | WJC | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1994 | Latvia | WC B | 4 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 4 |
| 1997
| Latvia | WC | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1999 | Latvia | WC | 6 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 2001
| Latvia | WC | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2002 | Latvia | WC | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| 2004
| Latvia | WC | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan=3 | Junior totals ! 20 !! 10 !! 10 !! 20 !! 14 | ||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan=3 | Senior totals ! 30 !! 15 !! 10 !! 25 !! 22 |
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110201115319/http://sergeizholtok.com/ Official Sergei Zholtok Memorial Site]
- {{Ice hockey stats}}
{{s-start}}
{{succession box | before = Matt Johnson | title = Minnesota Wild captain | years = January 2003 | after = Brad Bombardir}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zoltoks, Sergejs}}
Category:Boston Bruins draft picks
Category:Boston Bruins players
Category:Edmonton Oilers players
Category:Ice hockey people from Riga
Category:Ice hockey players who died while playing
Category:Latvian ice hockey centres
Category:Minnesota Wild players
Category:Montreal Canadiens players
Category:Nashville Predators players
Category:Ottawa Senators players
Category:Providence Bruins players
Category:Quebec Citadelles players