About Helmuts Balderis
Helmuts Balderis-Sildedzis 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. Balderis played several games for the newly recreated Latvian national team (in 1992), serving as its captain and scoring 2 goals. 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).
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.