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

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) 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. In ice hockey, two o ...

player. He played right wing, participated in the Soviet team's losing effort in the Miracle on Ice, and played part of a single season in the NHL after being drafted in 1989 by the Minnesota North Stars, 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 (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 Miracle on Ice game in 1980 but winning the World Championships in 1978, 1979 and 1983. Balderis represented the

Soviet Union 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, ...

in five IIHF World Championships (1976–1979, 1983), 1976 Canada Cup 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. 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 Minnesota North Stars, 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 governing body that oversees ice hockey in Latvia, including the Latvian Hockey Higher League, the Latvia women's national ice hockey team and ...

. In 1998, he was inducted into IIHF International Hockey Hall of Fame.

Awards

* Soviet league 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