Sergei Zholtok (), also known as Sergejs Žoltoks (December 2, 1972 – November 3, 2004) was a Latvian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. He played ten seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) for the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

and

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

from 1993 to 2004.

Playing career

Žoltoks was drafted 55th overall by the

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 The 1992–93 NHL season was the 76th regular season of the National Hockey League. Each player wore a patch on their jersey throughout the season to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Stanley Cup. The league expanded to 24 teams with the ...

and the

1993–94 NHL season The 1993–94 NHL season was the 77th regular season of the National Hockey League. The league expanded to 26 teams with the addition of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Florida Panthers. The Minnesota North Stars relocated to become the ...

, Žoltoks spent the next years playing in minor leagues. Žoltoks returned to the NHL in the

1996–97 NHL season The 1996–97 NHL season was the 80th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Winnipeg Jets relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, becoming the Phoenix Coyotes. The Stanley Cup winners were the Detroit Red Wings, who swept the Philadelphia Fl ...

with the

. In the following years, he played for the

and the

. During the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

, Žoltoks returned to Latvia and played for Riga 2000 team of the Latvian Hockey Higher League and the

Belarusian Extraleague The Belarusian Extraleague, abbreviated BHL, also known as the BETERA Extraleague for sponsorship reasons, or known as the Belarusian Open Championship, (), officially formed in 2006, is the top ice hockey league in Belarus. In its past, it has s ...

Death

On November 3, 2004, his

cardiac arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. Essentially, this is anything but normal sinus rhythm. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beat ...

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 Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

as the cause of death. 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

International

References

External links

Official Sergei Zholtok Memorial Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zoltoks, Sergejs 1972 births 2004 deaths Boston Bruins draft picks Boston Bruins players Dinamo Riga players Edmonton Oilers players Ice hockey people from Riga Ice hockey players who died while playing Latvian ice hockey centres Minnesota Wild players Montreal Canadiens players Nashville Predators players Ottawa Senators players Providence Bruins players Quebec Citadelles players Soviet ice hockey centres Sport deaths in Belarus Deaths from cardiomyopathy