| Sergei Zholtok | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Žoltoks withLatvia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1972-12-02)December 2, 1972 Riga,Latvian SSR,Soviet Union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | November 3, 2004(2004-11-03) (aged 31) Minsk, Belarus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shot | Right | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Played for | Dinamo Riga Boston Bruins Ottawa Senators Montreal Canadiens Edmonton Oilers Minnesota Wild Nashville Predators Riga 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team |  Latvia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NHL draft | 55th overall,1992 Boston Bruins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1990–2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Sergei Zholtok (Russian:Сергей Жолток), also known asSergejs Žoltoks (December 2, 1972 – November 3, 2004) was a Latvian professionalice hockeycentre. He played ten seasons in theNational Hockey League (NHL) for theBoston Bruins,Ottawa Senators,Montreal Canadiens,Edmonton Oilers,Minnesota Wild andNashville Predators from 1993 to 2004.
Žoltoks was drafted 55th overall by theBoston Bruins in the1992 NHL Entry Draft. Prior to being drafted, he won a gold medal with USSR national team inIIHF Junior World Championships in 1992. After playing 25 games with the Boston Bruins in the1992–93 NHL season and the1993–94 NHL season, Žoltoks spent the next years playing in minor leagues.
Žoltoks returned to the NHL in the1996–97 NHL season with theOttawa Senators. In the following years, he played for theMontreal Canadiens,Edmonton Oilers,Minnesota Wild and theNashville Predators.
During the2004–05 NHL lockout, Žoltoks returned to Latvia and played forRiga 2000 team of theLatvian Hockey Higher League and theBelarusian Extraleague.
On November 3, 2004, hiscardiac arrhythmia resurfaced during the game betweenRiga 2000 andDinamo Minsk. Žoltoks left the game with five minutes remaining, collapsing and dying after returning to the dressing room in the arms of teammateDarby Hendrickson. An autopsy determinedheart failure as the cause of death.[1][2][3][4][5] 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.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1989–90 | RASMS Rīga | USSR-3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Dinamo Rīga | USSR | 39 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Stars Rīga | CIS | 27 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 64 | 31 | 35 | 66 | 57 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 | ||
| 1993–94 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 24 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 54 | 29 | 33 | 62 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 78 | 23 | 35 | 58 | 42 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 6 | ||
| 1995–96 | Las Vegas Thunder | IHL | 82 | 51 | 50 | 101 | 30 | 15 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 6 | ||
| 1996–97 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 57 | 12 | 16 | 28 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1996–97 | Las Vegas Thunder | IHL | 19 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 78 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 16 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1998–99 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Fredericton Canadiens | AHL | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 68 | 26 | 12 | 38 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Quebec Citadelles | AHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 32 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 37 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 73 | 19 | 20 | 39 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 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 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2004–05 | HK Rīga 2000 | BLR | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 588 | 111 | 147 | 258 | 166 | 45 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 0 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Soviet Union | EJC | 6 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 6 | |
| 1991 | Soviet Union | WJC | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |
| 1992 | CIS | WJC | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | |
| 1994 | Latvia | WC B | 4 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 4 | |
| 1997 | Latvia | WC | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | |
| 1999 | Latvia | WC | 6 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | |
| 2001 | Latvia | WC | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 4 | |
| 2002 | Latvia | WC | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | |
| 2004 | Latvia | WC | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 | |
| Junior totals | 20 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 14 | |||
| Senior totals | 30 | 15 | 10 | 25 | 22 | |||
| Preceded by | Minnesota Wild captain January2003 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
