Helmuts Balderis-Sildedzis (born 31 July 1952) is a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

former

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player. He played

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authori ...

, participated in the Soviet team's losing effort in the

Miracle on Ice The "Miracle on Ice" was an ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. It was played between the hosting United States and the Soviet Union on February 22, 1980, during the medal round of the men's hockey tourna ...

, and played part of a single season in the NHL after being drafted in 1989 by the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

, becoming the oldest player to be drafted by an NHL team at the age of 36.

Playing career

Balderis played in the Soviet Hockey League for

Dinamo Riga Dinamo Riga ( lv, Rīgas Dinamo) is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It is a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. The club is affiliated with HK Zemgale/LLU. The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of ...

(1969–1977, 1980–1985) and

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

(1977–80). He was the leading scorer in the 1977 and 1984 seasons, winning the Player of the Year award in 1977. He was the best Latvian S.S.R. player of the 1970s and 1980s and the most prolific scorer from that nation, tallying 333 goals in Soviet league play. Balderis played for the Soviet national team, on the losing side of the

game in 1980 but winning the World Championships in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

, 1979 and 1983. Balderis represented the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in five IIHF

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

(1976–1979, 1983), 1976

Canada Cup The Canada Cup (french: Coupe Canada) was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true world ...

and 1980

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

. He was named Best Forward in the 1977 World Championships. He was not selected for the USSR's 1984 Olympic team and played in only one major international tournament after he left CSKA Moscow to go back to play for Dinamo Riga in 1980. In 1985, Balderis retired and became a coach in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He returned in 1989, when Soviet players were allowed to play in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. Balderis was drafted by the

, playing 26 games and scored 3 goals with 6 assists. He became the oldest ever player drafted by an NHL team (36) and the oldest player to score his first goal (37). He retired again after one season in Minnesota, but came out of retirement for the second time when

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

regained its independence. Balderis played several games for the newly recreated Latvian national team (in 1992), serving as its captain and scoring 2 goals. He later coached the team and served as its general manager. He currently serves as board member of the

Latvian Ice Hockey Federation The Latvian Ice Hockey Federation ( lv, Latvijas Hokeja federācija), commonly abbreviated as LHF is the Sport governing body, governing body that oversees ice hockey in Latvia, including the Latvian Hockey Higher League, the Latvia women's nation ...

. In 1998, he was inducted into

IIHF The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...

International Hockey Hall of Fame.

Awards

Soviet league The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

First All-Star Team (1977) * Izvestia Trophy (Soviet League Top Scorer) (1977, 1983) *Soviet League Player of the Year (1977) *World Championships All-Star Team (1977) *Named Best Forward at the World Championships (1977) *Leading Scorer of the Latvian League (1993)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
Helmut Balderis at Team CCCP International

Helmūts Balderis-Sildedzis at The Latvian Olympic Committee

Helmuts Balderis at The Russian Ice Hockey Federation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balderis, Helmuts 1952 births Living people Dinamo Riga players Dynamo sports society athletes HC CSKA Moscow players Ice hockey players at the 1980 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Latvian ice hockey right wingers Minnesota North Stars draft picks Minnesota North Stars players Olympic ice hockey players of the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Soviet expatriate ice hockey players Soviet expatriate sportspeople in the United States Ice hockey people from Riga Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples