Professional Hockey Player, Olympic Gold Medalist. He played at the position of center for ten seasons (1992 to 2004) in the National Hockey League with the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, and the Boston Bruins. Born Sergejs Žoltoks in Riga, Latvia, he began playing hockey as a youngster in his homeland of Latvia and then with teams in the Russian Leagues, including Dynamo Riga Jr from 1989 to 1990, Dynamo Riga from 1990 to 1991, USSR from 1990 to 1991, Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991, Russia from 1991 to 1992, and he Riga Stars from 1991 to 1992. With the USSR National Team, he was awarded a gold medal at the IIHF Junior World Championship in 1992. He also won a silver medal with the Soviet U-20 Team at the World Junior U-20 Championships in 1991 and 1992 which were held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and in Fuessen and Kaufbeuren, Germany. He then caught the attention of National Hockey League's Boston Bruins and was selected by them in Round 3 #55 Overall during the NHL Entry Draft in 1992. He played with them in 25 games during the 1992 to 1994 hockey season. He then began playing in the minor leagues and appeared with the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (or AHL) for three seasons (1993 to 1995), and the Las Vegas Thunder of the International Hockey League (or IHL) for three seasons (1995 to 1997). He returned to the National Hockey League and then played with the Ottawa Senators for three seasons (1996 to 1998), and the Montreal Canadiens for one season (1998 to 1999), before again returning to the minor leagues. He next played with the Fredericton Canadiens of the American Hockey League (or AHL) for one season (1998 to 1999), and the Quebec Citadelles of the American Hockey League (or AHL) for one season (1999 to 2000). He then quit playing with the minor leagues and returned to the National Hockey League and decided to finish out his career with them. He played with the Montreal Canadiens for four more seasons (1998 to 2001), the Edmonton Oilers for one season (2000 to 2001), the Minnesota Wild (also Team Captain in January 2003) for four seasons (2001 to 2004), and lastly the Nashville Predators for one season (2003 to 2004). During the lockout of the National Hockey League from 2004 to 2005, he returned to his native Latvia and played with the HK Rīga 2000 team in the Latvian Hockey Higher League and the Belarusian Extraleague. On November 3, 2004, during a game between HK Riga 2000 and the Dinamo Minsk in Minsk, Belarus, he suffered a cardiac arrhythmia and was taken to the team's dressing room and suffered another attack. He was later pronounced dead from heart failure at the age of 31. He was buried in his native Riga, Latvia. His total American Hockey League career consists of 204 regular-season games played, 86 goals, 108 assists, 194 points, and 117 penalties in minutes, and his National Hockey League career consists of 588 regular-season games played, 111 goals scored, 147 assists, 258 points, and 166 penalties in minutes. His awards and achievements include being named the American Hockey League Player of the Week in 1994 and being awarded the International Hockey League's Ironman Award for displaying outstanding offensive and defensive skills in 1996. The Riga Secondary School No. 55 was posthumously named in honour in 2005.