Sergei Zholtok dead at 31

[Cards4ever]

http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3134718

Nashville Predators center Sergei Zholtok died Wednesday of an apparent heart ailment. He was 31.

The Predators announced that Zholtok died in Latvia, where he was playing for Riga 2000 during the NHL lockout.
"We are all saddened and shocked to hear of Sergei's sudden passing," Predators general manager David Poile said in a statement. "He was a hardworking player who was well-liked by his teammates and coaches. We extend our deepest sympathies to the Zholtok family."


Sergei Zholtok scored 258 points in his NHL career. ( / GettyImages)

TSN's Web site reported Wednesday night that Zholtok excused himself from a game and collapsed and died on the way to the locker room.

Zholtok left a game in January 2003 because of dizziness and fatigue and was taken to the hospital for tests, causing concern for Wild coach Jacques Lemaire.

"I don't think he's OK," he said at the time.

Zholtok was also a late scratch two nights later against Buffalo when he skated during warmups but didn't feel well enough to play.

The forward then sat out early last season when the problems returned. Zholtok again left in the second period because of fainting spells. He returned to the hospital and was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat and flulike symptoms.

After missing seven games, Zholtok was cleared by a doctor to return to the lineup.

"It's a very sad thing," former Wild teammate Filip Kuba told The Associated Press. "He was a very close friend of mine. He was a very good person. ... It's hard right now to talk about it."

Zholtok appeared in 588 NHL games from 1992 to 2004 with Boston, Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton, Minnesota and Nashville. He joined the Predators on March 5 in a trade with Minnesota.

In 70 games last season with the Wild and Predators, Zholtok had 14 goals and 17 assists. For his career, Zholtok had 111 goals and 147 assists.

"Sergei was a great competitor and a valuable member of our organization for almost three years and will be greatly missed by his teammates and his fans in the hockey world," Wild general manager Doug Risebrough said.

Nashville declined to make a qualifying offer to Zholtok after the end of the season, which ended in a playoff loss to Detroit.

In recent years, Zholtok hooked up with fellow countryman and former Carolina Hurricanes goalie Arturs Irbe to organize an online auction of hockey memorabilia to benefit abused children in Latvia. They collected pucks, sticks and equipment autographed by more than 115 NHL players from 18 teams, including the Wild's Marian Gaborik, for sale to the highest bidder.

"Sergei was the consummate team player," Senators president Roy Mlakar said. "He will be remembered in Ottawa for his sincere involvement in our community. Moreover, he was a class human being and family man, who will be remembered as such by the Senators family."

Zholtok is survived by his wife Anna, and two sons.

[sachmo71]

Yikes.

[Ksyrup]

That's tough. He certainly had warnings about health problems when he played, but hockey is probably the only thing he knew, and it doesn't appear anyone told him to stop playing.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Wow

[Scholes]

I always liked Sergei during his time with the Wild, he had a scorer's mentality, something that was lacking from the squad. Plus his futuristic robot sounding last name was fun to say. This won't get a ton of mention because of the lockout, but he will be missed by many.

[Johnny93g]

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

God rest his soul.

[Draft Dodger]

wow, that's really too bad.

btw, what's up with that article - it may be the worst written article I've ever seen

[Chief Rum]

Man, that sucks.

CR

[Noop]