Helmuts Balderis
Helmut Balderis - Sildedzis (often Helmut Balderis; born July 31, 1952 in Riga, Latvian SSR ) is a retired Soviet and Latvian ice hockey player and member of the IIHF Hall of Fame.
- 3.1 International
Career
Balderis played within the League Wysschaja 1969-1977 for Dinamo Riga, then from 1977 to 1980 for CSKA Moscow and then from 1980 to 1985 again for Dinamo Riga. In the seasons 1977 and 1983 he was the leading scorer of the league and was awarded the prize of Izvestia newspaper. He holds the scoring record (333 goals) in the Soviet league.
Balderis also played for the Soviet national ice hockey team, and was so at the Olympic Winter Games in 1980 in the legendary game ( Miracle on Ice) against the United States on the losing side. He also celebrated many successes with his team but - as in the Ice Hockey World Championships 1978, 1979 and 1983, he represented the Soviet Union at a total of five world championships ( 1976-1979, 1983) and at the Canada Cup in 1976 and the 1980 Winter Olympics. .
In the Ice Hockey World Championship in 1977, he was honored as the best striker. Despite his continued excellent performance he was, probably for political or sport for political reasons, not appointed at the Olympic Winter Games in 1984 the national team ( at that time was the national team only from athletes of the Moscow clubs, other Russian cities or Soviet republics were not represented ). So Balderis was indeed a top scorer among the Soviet strikers who played for the national team, but was never rewarded with an Olympic gold medal.
In 1985, he received permission to leave the USSR and became player-manager of Ōji Seishi in Japan. With Ōji he won in 1987 and 1988, the Japanese championship. After it was allowed with the fall of the Iron Curtain, Soviet players to play in the NHL, he started a second career. Balderis was drawn by the Minnesota North Stars in the NHL Entry Draft in 1989 and played 26 times ( 3 goals, 6 assists) for North Stars. In this context, he also puts up two new NHL records: he was the oldest player ever drafted ( 36) and the oldest shooter who has ever shot his first goal in the NHL (37). After only one season with the Stars, he withdrew again and coached during the season 1990/91 HK Pārdaugava Riga.
When Latvia in 1992 celebrated its independence, he became the captain of the new Latvian national team and even joined in some games on for this, in which he scored two goals. He later became coach of the national team and its general manager. Today he is a member of the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation.
1998 his extraordinary playing career was honored with induction into the IIHF Hall of Fame. In 1978 he was awarded the Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.
Between 2009 and 2011 he was a member of the supervisory board of the Latvian pharmaceutical company Olainfarm.
Awards and achievements
Internationally
- Bronze medal at the European Championships
- 1977 Best striker in the World Cup
Career Stats
Internationally
Represented the USSR at:
- U19 European Junior Championships 1971
- World Cup 1976
- Canada Cup 1976
- World Cup 1977
- World Cup 1978
- World Cup 1979
- Challenge Cup 1979
- 1980 Winter Olympics
- World Cup 1983
Represented Latvia at:
- Qualifying tournament for C World Cup 1993
( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )