Helmuts Balderis

Helmuts Balderis-Sildedzis (born 31 July 1952) is a former Soviet and Latvian professional ice hockey player. He played on the right wing and participated at the 1980 Winter Olympics, where the Soviet team unexpectedly lost to the United States. He played part of a single season in the National Hockey League 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. In 1998, he was inducted into International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame.

Playing career Balderis played in the Soviet Hockey League for Dinamo Riga (1969–1977, 1980–1985) and CSKA Moscow (1977–80), having been transferred to the latter as a precondition for being accepted in the Soviet national team. He was the leading scorer in the 1977 and 1984 seasons, winning the Player of the Year award in 1977. He was the best player of the Latvian SSR in the 1970s and 1980s and the most prolific scorer from the republic, tallying 333 goals in Soviet league play.

Balderis played for the Soviet national team at multiple tournaments, winning the silver medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics and gold medals at the World Championships in 1978, 1979 and 1983. Overall, Balderis played in five World Championships (1976–1979, 1983), 1976 Canada Cup and 1980 Winter Olympics. He was named Best Forward in the 1977 World Championships. Balderis 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. Balderis was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars, playing 26 games and scoring 3 goals with 6 assists. He became the oldest 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 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. As of 2017, he serves as a board member of the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation.

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) In 1998, he was inducted into International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1967–68 Dinamo Riga Soviet II — — — — — — — — — — 1968–69 Dinamo Riga Soviet III — — — — — — — — — — 1969–70 Dinamo Riga Soviet II — 12 — 12 — — — — — — 1970–71 Dinamo Riga Soviet II — 10 — 10 — — — — — — 1971–72 Dinamo Riga Soviet II — 14 9 23 — — — — — — 1972–73 Dinamo Riga Soviet II — 27 15 42 — — — — — — 1973–74 Dinamo Riga Soviet 24 9 6 15 13 — — — — — 1974–75 Dinamo Riga Soviet 36 34 14 48 20 — — — — — 1975–76 Dinamo Riga Soviet 36 31 14 45 18 — — — — — 1976–77 Dinamo Riga Soviet 35 40 23 63 57 — — — — — 1977–78 CSKA Moscow 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 Dinamo Riga Soviet 44 26 24 50 28 — — — — — 1981–82 Dinamo Riga Soviet 41 24 19 43 48 9 15 5 20 2 1982–83 Dinamo Riga Soviet 40 32 31 63 39 — — — — — 1983–84 Dinamo Riga Soviet 39 24 15 39 18 — — — — — 1984–85 Dinamo Riga Soviet 39 31 20 51 52 — — — — — 1989–90 Minnesota North Stars NHL 26 3 6 9 2 — — — — — 1991–92 HK Sāga Ķekava Riga Latvia 7 23 18 41 27 — — — — — 1991–92 RSHVM-Energo Riga CIS III 16 14 12 26 10 — — — — — 1991–92 Vecmeistars Riga Latvia 7 23 18 41 27 — — — — — 1992–93 Latvijas zelts Riga Latvia 22 76 66 142 16 — — — — — 1993–94 Latvijas zelts Riga Latvia 7 9 9 18 39 — — — — — 1994–95 Essamika Ogre Latvia 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 1995–96 Essamika Ogre Latvia 30 18 36 54 — — — — — — Soviet totals 462 333 247 580 399 9 15 5 20 2 Latvia totals 53 126 130 256 — — — — — —

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1971 Soviet Union EJC 5 10 1 11 4 1976 Soviet Union WC 10 3 7 10 6 1976 Soviet Union CC 5 2 3 5 6 1977 Soviet Union WC 9 8 7 15 4 1978 Soviet Union WC 10 9 2 11 8 1979 Soviet Union WC 8 4 5 9 9 1980 Soviet Union OLY 7 5 4 9 5 1983 Soviet Union WC 10 4 5 9 22 Senior totals 59 35 33 68 50