Sergei Zholtok dead

[eddie010]

TSN Story

I, for one, am shocked and truly saddened. I remember Sergei when he played for Ottawa and always enjoyed his grit and clutchness. I also believe he was a key player in Minnesota's great playoff run of 2003.

He appatently collapsed and died with five minutes remaining in his game, on the way to the dressing room, of cardiac arrhythmia.

Truly unbelievably sad.

[DEAD!]

That's shocking. He was a decent player.

[lopernv]

When I saw Zholtok and dead together, man, it sucked. I haven't read the story, but dieing at 31 is shocking.

[zer0dotcom]

unbelievable

[randyc]

RIP Sergei

[NJTank]

Stunning, one wonder if the NHL season was on and he saw a team doctor hear if this could have been caught. This could be a tragic sideeffect of the lockout.

[uncle_wiggily]

That is wierd, maybe a post-mortem will shed some light on this truly strange incident. According to the article, in the past he has suffered from "mysterious health ailments," or perhaps we will never know.

[CC97]

Sadly I'm getting used to this kind of news.

[randyc]

I agree with Chris. This kind of news is all to common now

[zer0dotcom]

Sadly I'm getting used to this kind of news.

me too, and thats more depressing than this kind of news is....

[Puckguy14]

For you guys, I wipped these up:

Zholtok's Jersey:

and a sig:

Post #1996

[plattopus]

Whoa... I used to trade for him in NHL video games all the time.

[OMMF]

For you guys, I wipped these up:

Zholtok's Jersey:

and a sig:

Post #1996

Can you make a Preds one? That was his last team.

[Babydoll]

Only 31! oye...life is too short isn't it?

[budbowl77]

wow..i cant believe hes gone...31 years old..its tragic..

[Puckguy14]

Post #1996

Can you make a Preds one? That was his last team.

Here it is:

Guys please make sure you save to your own space. I don't have a ton of space on my AOL folder.

Post #1997

[spyboy1]

Sergei?s passing really is a tragic thing.

I first met him before a Wild practice and later on, I wore my game used Dynamo Riga jersey, the first pro team he ever played for in his hometown of Riga, Latvia.

He was so surprised to see a piece of home 4500 miles away. I was standing by the glass and he grabbed a teammate by the arm and dragged him over. ?That?s a jersey from my hometown!? he told him. That really made my day.

After that, I would make a point of going to his personal appearances, especially the Q&A format ones, usually making a point of asking a question related to him playing for his country in the World Championships or Olympics, a great source of pride for him.

On the day Latvia was playing to avoid elimination in the Olympics at Salt Lake City, he was playing for the Wild. The NHL didn?t start their Olympic break until after the preliminary round. Knowing that he wanted to be playing for his country, I wore my Latvian National jersey to the Wild game and went and stood by the glass during warm-ups. He spotted me and understood the message of support and acknowledged it by tapping his heart twice with his fist as he skated by.

I was so proud of him when he was named captain of the Wild. I?m sure he was the first and only Latvian to be named captain of an NHL team.

I even had him translate an old Dynamo Riga vs. Soviet Central Red Army game program I got off of ebay once. He and his friends really got a kick out of seeing it.

He always gave really thoughtful answers to questions and not the usual clichés, and you knew if the subject ever strayed from hockey, he was going to mention spending time with his family and fishing.

I loved watching him play, especially when it was late in a game and we had the lead. When he got the puck and needed to kill time he could play a one man game of keep-away that was spectacular. His skating and stickhandling skills were just awesome to watch.

Before he was traded, the last time I saw him was to give him a photo that I took of him at a recent practice. I?m now very glad to have made a point of doing that, knowing a trade was a possibility.

This really is a sad thing for him to pass away at such a young age and also very hard to take since I?d like to think we had a friendship on some small level.

JeffB

Some quotes from the article on ESPN.com

"He was one of the greatest all time players in Latvian hockey history," said Guntis Keisels, a sports reporter with the country's leading newspaper Diena. "Ten years in the NHL is quite an achievement. He was the best goal scorer, the best forward, Latvia ever produced."

Everyone associated with Latvian hockey was shocked and saddened by the news, said Viesturs Kozioles, president of Riga 2000, who broke down crying while talking about the star forward's death.

"I was really honored to have him on the team," Kozioles said. "He was a patriot for his country and for hockey who never took a shift off and always devoted time to trying to make our young players better. He was one of the best players Latvia ever had, and he was a brilliant person, a brilliant character."

Zholtok was popular with Latvian fans, who are among hockey's most passionate. While many NHL players skip the World Championships that are held each spring, Zholtok regularly suited up for Latvia.

Zholtok was a member of the Latvian team that won silver at the 1994 world championships, and in subsequent tournaments helped his country retain its position in the top flight of international hockey. He was on the Commonwealth of Independent States team that won gold at the 1991 world junior tournament.

[uncle_wiggily]

Just for those who are curious, according to my soucres he suffered from a condition called cardiac arrhythmia, which in lamens terms is an irregular heart beat and can result in SCD (Sudden Cardiac Death). I will not go into the specifics of what happens to a person with an irregular heart beat but suffice to say there are many different factors in causing such a condition, these include:

• Coronary artery disease
  
• Electrolyte imbalances in your blood (such as sodium or potassium).
  
• Changes in your heart muscle.
  
• Injury from a heart attack
  
• Healing process after heart surgery.
  

Although, irregular heartbeats can occur in seemingly "normal, healthy" hearts. As far as factors causing SCD go, such factors as a history of heart defects or fainting, or heart failure can result in SCD. Interesting to note, he has been noted to have suffered from spells of dizziness and fatigue in the past. More than likely a sign of his condition, which when left untreated resulted in SCD.

[CC97]

Interesting to note, he has been noted to have suffered from spells of dizziness and fatigue in the past. More than likely a sign of his condition, which when left untreated resulted in SCD.

Very true... and as we learned in the past you could have had none of those problems and still suffer from it. I heard that John Cerutti was discovered to have this problem after a physical exam 2 years ago, his doctor told him it was nothing to worry about, and then he just dies.

It's a scary thing.

[slapshot]

That's really sad news about Zholtok. His condition seems very similar to another Boston athlete, Reggie Lewis. Lewis was also diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat, and died after collapsing in a pickup basketball game.

Did Pete Maravich have the same thing? I know he died of a heart attack during a pickup basketball game too.