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Helmuts Balderis
Balderis in 2014
Born	(1952-07-31) 31 July 1952 Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position	Right wing
Shot	Left
Played for	Dinamo Riga CSKA Moscow Minnesota North Stars
National team	Soviet Union and  Latvia
NHL draft	238th overall, 1989 Minnesota North Stars
Playing career	1973–1985 1989–1996
Medal record Representing  Soviet Union Men's ice hockey Olympic Games 1980 Lake Placid Ice hockey World Championships 1978 Czechoslovakia Ice hockey 1979 Soviet Union Ice hockey 1983 West Germany Ice hockey 1976 Poland Ice hockey 1977 Austria Ice hockey

Helmuts Balderis-Sildedzis (born 31 July 1952) is a former Soviet and Latvian professional ice hockey player.^[1][2] 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.

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.^[3]

• 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.^[3]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Helmuts Balderis.

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
• Helmut Balderis at Team CCCP International
• (in Latvian) Helmūts Balderis-Sildedzis at The Latvian Olympic Committee Archived 13 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
• (in Russian) Helmuts Balderis at The Russian Ice Hockey Federation Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine