Dead Celebrity Alert

Sergei Zholtok, the popular, introspective center who played almost three full seasons with the Wild, died Wednesday during a game in Minsk, Belarus. He is believed to have died of heart failure.

Zholtok, 31, was playing for HC Riga 2000 when he left the bench late in a tie game and collapsed in or near the visiting locker room, according to NHL agent Neil Sheehy. Paramedics unsuccessfully attempted to revive Zholtok, Sheehy said.

In a convergence of time and place, another former Wild player, Darby Hendrickson, was playing with Riga because of the NHL lockout. He accompanied Zholtok to the locker room. And, according to Sheehy, Zholtok died in Hendrickson’s arms. … Read full obituary

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