Helmuts Balderis-Sildedzis (born 31 July 1952, Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

, Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

) is a retired Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

n ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 player. He played right wing

Winger (ice hockey)

Winger, in the game of hockey, is a forward position of a player whose primary zone of play on the ice is along the outer playing area. They typically work by flanking the centre forward. Originally the name was given to forward players who went up and down the sides of the rink...

.

Playing career

Balderis played in the Soviet Hockey League for Dinamo Rīga

Dinamo Riga

Dinamo Riga was an ice hockey club, based in Riga, Latvia. It was founded in 1946 and disestablished in 1995 as Pārdaugava Rīga.-History of Dinamo Riga:...

 (1969–77 and 1980–85) and CSKA Moscow

HC CSKA Moscow

HC CSKA Moscow is a Russian ice hockey club that plays in the Kontinental Hockey League. It is referred to in the West as "Central Red Army" or the "Red Army Team" for its past affiliation with the Soviet Army, popularly known as the Red Army...

 (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 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

Miracle on Ice

The "Miracle on Ice" is the name in American popular culture for a medal-round men's ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, on Friday, February 22...

 game in 1980 but winning World Championships in 1978, 1979 and 1983. Balderis represented the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 in five IIHF World Championships (1976–1979, 1983), 1976 Canada Cup

Canada Cup (ice hockey)

The Canada Cup was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The tournament was created to meet demand for a true world championship that allowed the best players from participating nations to compete regardless of their status as professional...

 and 1980 Winter Olympics. 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

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

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

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

. Balderis was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars

Minnesota North Stars

The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, and the team's colors for most of its history were green, yellow, gold and white...

, 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

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

 regained its independence. Balderis played several games for the newly created 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 is currently a member of the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation (Latvijas Hokeja Federācija; LHF).

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 World Championships (1977)
• Leading scorer of the Latvian league (1993)

Career statistics

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes;

				Regular season
Season Season (sports) In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an...	Team	League		GP	G Goal (ice hockey) In ice hockey, a goal is scored when the puck completely crosses the goal line between the two goal posts and below the goal crossbar. A goal awards one point to the team attacking the goal scored upon, regardless of which team the player who actually deflected the puck into the goal belongs to...	A Assist (ice hockey) In ice hockey, an assist is attributed to up to two players of the scoring team who shot, passed or deflected the puck towards the scoring teammate, or touched it in any other way which enabled the goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the goal. There can be a maximum of two assists per goal...	Pts Point (ice hockey) Point in ice hockey has three official meanings:* A point is awarded to a player for each goal scored or assist earned. The total number of goals plus assists equals total points. In some European leagues, a goal counts as two points, and an assist counts as one...	PIM Penalty (ice hockey) A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for inappropriate behavior. Most penalties are enforced by detaining the offending player within a penalty box for a set number of minutes, during which, the player can not participate in play. The offending team usually may not replace the player on the ice,...
1967–68	Dynamo Riga	Soviet II
1968–69	Dynamo Riga	Soviet III
1969–70	Dynamo Riga	Soviet III			12
1970–71	Dynamo Riga	Soviet II			10
1971–72	Dynamo Riga	Soviet II			14	9	23
1972–73	Dynamo Riga	Soviet II			27	15	42
1973–74	Dynamo Riga	Soviet		24	9	6	15	13
1974–75	Dynamo Riga	Soviet		36	34	14	48	20
1975–76	Dynamo Riga	Soviet		36	31	14	45	18
1976–77	Dynamo Riga	Soviet		35	40	23	63	57
1977–78	CSKA Moscow HC CSKA Moscow HC CSKA Moscow is a Russian ice hockey club that plays in the Kontinental Hockey League. It is referred to in the West as "Central Red Army" or the "Red Army Team" for its past affiliation with the Soviet Army, popularly known as the Red Army...	Soviet		36	17	17	34	30
1978–79	CSKA Moscow	Soviet		41	24	24	48	53
1979–80	CSKA Moscow	Soviet		42	26	35	61	21
1980–81	Dynamo Riga	Soviet		44	26	24	50	28
1981–82	Dynamo Riga	Soviet		50	39	24	63	50
1982–83	Dynamo Riga	Soviet		40	32	31	63	39
1983–84	Dynamo Riga	Soviet		39	24	15	39	18
1984–85	Dynamo Riga	Soviet		39	31	20	51	52
1989–90	Minnesota North Stars Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, and the team's colors for most of its history were green, yellow, gold and white...	NHL National Hockey League The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...		26	3	6	9	2
1991–92	HK Rīga	Latvia		7	23	18	41	27
1992–93	Latvijas Zelts	Latvia		22	76	66	142	16
1994–95	Essamika Ogre	Latvia		1	0	1	1	0
1995–96	Essamika Ogre	Latvia		30	18	36	54	12
Soviet totals				462	333	247	580	399
NHL totals				26	3	6	9	2

International play

• Played for USSR in 1971 European Junior Championships
• Played for USSR in 1976 Canada Cup
• Played for USSR in 1976–77 Super Series
• Played for USSR in World Championships (1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1983)
• Played for USSR in 1979 Challenge Cup
• Played for USSR in 1980 Super Series
• Played for USSR in 1980 Winter Olympic Games

International statistics

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	P	PIM
1971	Soviet Union	EJC		5	10	1	11	4
1976	Soviet Union	Canada Cup 1976 Canada Cup The 1976 Canada Cup was an international ice hockey tournament held September 2–15, 1976, in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Quebec, Canada as well as in Philadelphia, United States. It was the first of five Canada Cup tournaments held between 1976 and 1991...		5	2	3	5	6
1976	Soviet Union	WC 1976 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1976 World Ice Hockey Championships were the 43rd Ice Hockey World Championships and the 54th European Championships in ice hockey. The tournament took place in Poland from 8 April to 25 April, and the games were played in Katowice. Eight teams took part in the main tournament, with each team...		10	3	7	10	6
1976–77	Soviet Union	Super Series Super Series The Super Series were exhibition games between Soviet teams and NHL teams that took place on each NHL opponents' home ice in North America from 1976 to 1991. The Soviet teams were usually club teams from the Soviet hockey league. The exception was in 1983, when the Soviet National Team represented...		7	4	4	8	14
1977	Soviet Union	WC 1977 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1977 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Vienna, Austria from 21 April to 8 May. Eight teams took part, first playing each other once, then the four best teams advancing to a new round. The tournament was also the 55th ice hockey European Championship...		9	8	7	15	4
1978	Soviet Union	WC 1978 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1978 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Prague, Czechoslovakia from 26 April to 14 May. Eight teams took part, with each team playing each other once in the first round, and then the four best teams meeting in a new round. This was the 45th World Championships, and also the 56th ice...		10	9	2	11	8
1979	Soviet Union	Chal. Cup		3	1	1	2	0
1979	Soviet Union	WC 1979 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1979 Ice Hockey World Championships took place at the Palace of Sports of the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Soviet Union from 26 April to 14 May. Eight teams took part, with the first round split into two groups of four, and the best two from each group advancing to the final group. The four...		8	4	5	9	9
1980	CSKA Moscow HC CSKA Moscow HC CSKA Moscow is a Russian ice hockey club that plays in the Kontinental Hockey League. It is referred to in the West as "Central Red Army" or the "Red Army Team" for its past affiliation with the Soviet Army, popularly known as the Red Army...	Super Series Super Series The Super Series were exhibition games between Soviet teams and NHL teams that took place on each NHL opponents' home ice in North America from 1976 to 1991. The Soviet teams were usually club teams from the Soviet hockey league. The exception was in 1983, when the Soviet National Team represented...		5	5	2	7	2
1980	Soviet Union	Olympics Ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics Ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics was held at the Olympic Arena and the Olympic Fieldhouse in Lake Placid, New York. Twelve teams competed in the tournament, which was held from February 12 to February 24...		7	5	4	9	5
1983	Soviet Union	WC 1983 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1983 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in West Germany from 16 April to 2 May. The games were played in Munich, Dortmund and Düsseldorf. Eight teams took part, with each playing each other once. The four best teams then play each other once more. This was the 49th World Championships,...		10	4	5	9	22
1992	Latvia	WC Group C qualifying		2	2	2	4	0

External links

• Helmut Balderis at Team CCCP International