The Oldest NHL Draft Pick - The Helmut Balderis Story
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- čas přidán 27. 05. 2024
- On June 17th 1989, after 12 years of playing in the Soviet Union and another 5 in retirement, one Latvian player's dream of finally playing in the National Hockey League became a reality as his name was called during the NHL Entry Draft. However, he wasn't exactly a teenager...
This is the story of Helmut Balderis: the oldest NHL draft pick in league history...
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In the spring of 1990, I was an old goalie who somehow had his name on a rental goalie list who would get calls from teams needing a sub or to play for free during an ice rental. I ended playing for a team in a local rec league in a Mpls. western suburb. I saw a guy skating around wearing the Stars breezers of the time: all black with 3 green/gold stars down each side. I thought to myself: 'who is this wannabe?' The moment he got the puck just off the left faceoff circle, he snapped a shot that went top shelf so fast I didn't have time to react. All the players on the bench said "Great shot Helmet!!!" (sic). It was then I realized I had been scored on by an ex CCCP sniper. I shook his hand in line at the end of the game and he had no emotion whatsoever . Either he was injured, or was a healthy scratch for most of the Stars season and just wanted to play. I was coming to the end of the line in my Goalguard career, but getting sniped by Helmut was a definite highlight.
Great story!
Thats so awesome
:)
Great memorry. My father user to say that Helmut was the best player in the notorious CSKA or red armys team, and best player of russian league at a point.
Awesome story, from another rec goalie
Thanks for sharing! That's great!
Balderis was one of the top best soviet hockey players, along with Kharlamov, Yakushev, Maltsev and etc. His technique and vision for a game were outstanding. It was a huge pleasure watching him playing in his heyday. Lots of thanx to this movie and its main personnage, Helmut. Sure, he deserves more attetion.
Strange but true story.Greetings from Gatineau ,Que,Canada.
i'll be honest, when i saw this video in my recommendations this wasn't the accent i was expecting to hear
As a Latvian, i like the video.
As an Non Latvian - He was GREAT ! Almost like Håkan LOOB !
Do You Hakan LOOB Story ?
As a Russian I can only say that I second your opinion. He was an absolute idol for most boys growing up in the late USSR.
Who is here from latvia? 🇱🇻💪
me :) Once I seen his game - team "Dinamo Riga". CCCP time. I was 10 years old. Around 1977-78 at Riga
Not me
Good shit. Would've been interesting to see him in his prime in the NHL. HELL the guy averaged a hat trick in his 40's in his countries league.
yeah bc we have quite a average league, probably even worse back then.
That league was a Canadian beer league
@@glizzygobbler420 Still impressive numbers thou 😂😂
In that league was playing amatuer players. After soviet occupation our country was broke. In that league any AHL player would make that stats.
@KoivuTheHab reading your comments and some of the others I realize that now.
Nice vid.! H. Balderis is a legend in Latvia! Such a shame he didn't joined te NHL when he was younger! I would watch if someone made a documentary about him! Tnx! More vids about latvian ice hockey players!
Tāda filma jau ir ;) ltv.lsm.lv/lv/raksts/09.12.2016-legenda.-helmuts-balderis.-dokumentala-filma.id92112/
I saw him play with the Moscow Selects vs. the Edmonton Oil Kings (actually the Oil Kings and a bunch of Western Canada Hockey League all-stars) at the Edmonton Coliseum on Dec. 10, 1974, just a month after the building opened. I think he had 2 goals that night, and the Selects won 5-4. When I heard the name with Minnesota, I thought he must have had a son playing; I was shocked when it was the player I saw all those years earlier.
Seemed like he was also born witha moustache.
He was born with skates on !
Единственный хоккеист в мире накидавший Третьяку 4 шайбы в одном матче. Матч Динамо Рига -ЦСКА 7:5 , год не помню но вроде 1975-1976
What a Legend!
А ты, парень - знаток!
@@eduardczuwak8394 я родом из Риги. А в Риге тем более в то время , почти все были больны хоккеем
@@martinson6644 Да и сейчас в Риге многие еще болеют хоккеем :)
Не правда! Балдерис сам признал, что вторим бил Анисин. А я бил в восторге что в 1981 году на встрече с хокейстами, пожал ему руку и смог задать пару вопросов о личном.
saw him play in the 70's for Riga one game when they beat the untouchable CSKA. Everybody thought who is this guy. He wore spectacles back then too. No doubt one of the all time greats. And of course the coach in Riga back then was the legendary Tikhonov. They were both soon on the national team.
Proud to say that I'm Latvian 🇱🇻
Labs ir! ) Helmuts ir mūsu hokeja leģenda! Thanks! It is our latvian legend! )
🇱🇻🇱🇻🇱🇻
Odd Man Rush: "Someone should make a movie about it or something... I would watch it!"
Frank D'Angelo: "Hold my beer!"
There is a movie about him already.
@@regnarsk1890 what's it called?
@@stephenrobinson1944 Leģenda Helmuts Balderis, it is in Latvian language but I thing there is English subtitles.
Frank D'Angelo is a CHEATAH!
He would've been be great in the NHL. He was a really good skater he started figure skating before hockey because you could only start playing hockey in the USSR after turning 10.
Where did you get your fake information? Completely untrue. Laughing over here.
@@ehrgeiz5649 there is a movie about him (in Latvian) and he told that he wasn't allowed to play hockey until he was 10. Maybe that age limit was enforced in Riga at the time.
@@rayrudz27 Ah - this could be, I've played in Russia many years ago, in Balashikha. But have never heard this before.
@@ehrgeiz5649 I'm not from that era so you might have more knowledge about hockey in USSR but he mentioned something about the age in the movie.
@@rayrudz27 It was probably only enforced for non-russian soviet-states.
That North Stars jersey is still the best ever
NO.
Not the best, but still pretty cool
The home white from 1981 to 1991 is in my top 3.
You need a New Team !
1:01. He was actually taking the puck down the ice. How do I know that? I took the picture. The bottom half with the puck has been edited out. 3:17. That's Bob Gainey who later went on to coach and become the general manager of the North Stars after Balderis left.
My girlfriend's Grandfather said that he saw match where he scored for goals against Soviet champions when he played at Dinamo Riga. Thanks for video greetings from Latvia.
What a great story. Thanks for this.
seriously good hockey content. Hope you guys continue with stuff like this.
He would have been a real good NHL hockey player had he joined 10 years earlier.
had he joined 15 years earlier he'd be competing with Lafleur for the scoring title
Legend already. Thx for video. Big respect to Helmut Balderis.
Love your commentary as always !!!
Coo story. I enjoyed this. I remember having his hockey cards back in the day.
Legend
Defiantly a star if he had joined in his prime! 🤴
Well, he did play for Minnesota, so... technically a star? :P
@KoivuTheHab You missed the joke. I said he was a "star" because played for the Minnesota North Stars. So Balderis very literally WAS a Star lol :P
For the roughly two years he was in the Minneapolis area he skated up to three times a week at Minnetonka ice arena. He was so quick and on a break away popped the puck up bounced 3 times in the air then smacked it into the net on a very good goaltender. Everyone looked at each other in disbelief at what we had just seen. He smiled and went to the bench. A great guy and very personable with everyone at the rink.
I agree, someone should make a movie about him. That'd be something to watch, instead of all these reboots, remakes and sequels nobody is asking for that Hollywood keeps making.
Born 20 years to soon.
I think things worked out well for him.
So he’s telling me, when he was in the Latvian league, he AVERAGED 4 GOALS A GAME?!?!?
Damn.
It was basically a beer league!!
at least he played on the biggest Stage in Hockey. Doesn't matter how man goals, assists or points he could brin up. He made his personal dream come true
256 points in 53 games? This man has his be a pro difficulty set to rookie
Yes
yeah, basically it was a children's league for someone of that talent lol
he would have. he was an amazing player for a very long time. him, makarov, and kharlamov were the most western-style of Soviet players. they were more individual talents that could go coast-to-coast at will against anybody
There was a popular saying in my youth: "Пейте пиво Алдарис, будете как Балдерис".
What does it mean?
@@shane0mac96 that means "Drink beer Aldaris, be like Balderis"
@@janisberzins1113 Thank you!
Some NHL scouts offered him to secretly hide from soviet union team when the soviets played against NHL teams in late 70s and become a NHL player but he refused the offer as he was afraid that KGB will throw his family in prison or will do something similar.
A pity Balderis didn't get the chance to play in the NHL during his best days. On the other hand, when being at CSKA he did in actuality play in the best club team of the world. CSKA have a staggering super series record against NHL teams from the years of 1976-1991 of 24 victories, 2 ties and only 8 losses.
Another great video about some very interesting hockey history. He would have definitely been a great NHL player if allowed to play in the leauge sooner.
Fantastic story.
I love that stat line from 1992-93 when he must have been about 40 years old in the Latvian league. 22 GP, 76 G, 142 PTS. What???!!!!
Imagine to put Ovechkin or Crosby today in our (Latvain) league today. Results would be the same. Balderis is a legend in Latvian hockey. And still haven’t seen anybody to perfect the wrist shot to that level he got. Too fast to notice the shot moment. Truly fenomenom.
@@zeltazirgs I believe it!
@Mathias Eggimann I will!
Balderis.... I've heard his name back in childhood so many times.
Excellent hockey player and a super skater. See also Reijo Ruotsalainen from Finland.
great video!
im latvian btw,
but there are some mistakes for example it wasn't OHL back then in 1990ies
A movie about this guy's career already sounds infinitely better than 'The Last Big Save'.
I’d also watch that movie
This guy was a sensational player, one of the best in the world in his prime. Skated like greased lightning and was a magician with the puck
I remember him on my North Stars ! Good times.....
Latvijā ❤️
Latvian legend
Love the nod to Liam Kirk in the video
Nice vid whatever happened to Anders lindback?
Dude that is unreal
Balderis would probably have been a very good NHL'er if he'd come over earlier. I remember seeing him with the Soviet national team, one of the best on the team. In that photo, he's being checked by Bob Gainey, one of the best defensive forwards ever,so it's obvious the NHL team coach took him seriously.
Whatever happened to Mikhail Grabovski?
suck happened to grabovsky
he is old
June 17 1989 the exact day I was born
my idol
Yes...I would go to that movie
My idol
Great player, especially because he is from my country!
Is this a British guy talking about hockey 😳 rare
He is Quite Good ! We need more European - to TALK HOCKEY ! Europe needs someone who knows the details / of European HOCKEY ! Noone in Canada knows of Euro Hockey ?
In Soviet Union, 16 is middle age😁
Nice 👍
stress on the first syllable, not second
@perpetual1994 yeah. Same thing with Porzingis now
A friend of mine had a plan to invent "THE Helmet Balderis", a specialized helmet equipped with a headset so the coach could give real time directions to the players on the ice. Shame it never caught on...
By the way, the first Soviet-born and trained player ever drafted by an NHL team also was latvian. At age of 20, Viktors Hatuļevs becameThe Philadelphia Flyers historic selection at the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft in the ninth round, 160th overall, even though there was no chance of getting him out of the USSR. Hatuļevs was also selected by the Cleveland Crusaders in the ninth round, 116th overall, of the 1975 WHA Amateur Draft.
Unfortunately, he ended very bad. But that's another story.
Have you done a video on Connie Madigan?
I have indeed!
Ha. No way, I met him while he was working in Nw Ontario over 20 years ago.
I recently heard that he’s STILL working !
He’d come in for dinner at the restaurant I worked at 3 or 4 nights a week.
We’d talk and he told me that he’s in the movie Slapshot, he’s the guy who gives the ref the finger as he yells ‘ hey ref, F&@& you!’
Not sure if it’s true but I don’t see why he’d randomly say that
Good for him
Shows u how much better the NHL is ... no doubt a great player, in Europe. Kinda like being an MLS all star and heading to the Premiership.
Would love to get his North Stars jersey
It's weird hearing a Brit narrating a hockey video, but good for him for having interest.
Love your videos man but I have too listen to the videos with 1.25x speed lol
Please do a video on Viktors Hatuļevs. The first soviet player to be drafted in NHL in 1975. He also was Latvian and played alongside Balderis for a while. Amazing and tragic story. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktors_Hatu%C4%BCevs
Would have been amazing to see him make it to the NHL when he was in his prime. He looks like Denis Savard a bit.
i,m think is realy better than a read neck from bradon Ontario for sure ..;)
Not just three olympic gold medals, but with THREE diffrent teams!
Oh, and whatever happened to Ole Kristian Tollefsen?
He was last playing in the Swedish league a few seasons ago.
Remember he for his brief stint here in Philadelphia with the Flyers.
There is a movie about him!
580 points in 462 games is bullshit! What's with the first four seasons? 0 games 63 goals and 24 assists... 87 points in 0 games - wow!
Are we all just going to brush over the fact that his name is Helmut and he plays hockey?
did you do a video on liam kirk being drafted. unsure if ive seen it or not
Cool
It's kinda cool hearing a brit talking hockey
Jonathan Toews of the UND Fighting Sioux in the second frame? Anyway, go Sioux!
41 points in 7 games, twice? Seriously...
Was the "Soviet players can't play in NHL" a policy by NHL or the Soviet Union?
The Soviets didn't want to hand over the players they developed to the imperialist swine
Interesting
Ah yes, the real Stars. I remember when he played with them. I think if he would have been 7 or 8 years earlier he could have been special for the Stars and the NHL
ya bud, the movie is called miracle
142 points in 22 games??? WTF?!?!?!
I'm 36. I have a year and a bit to train.
Good video, but the logos are all wrong. You used current khl and lhl team and league logos, they were diffrent back then ;)
Latvian Liga GOD
I wanna see a modern true underdog hockey athlete story.
Howabout Anze KOPITAR Story ? He is from a Nation - Most People has No Idea - Where it is ! - but There is One Another Person - from the same Country ! Howcome a KOPITAR Standart Player - Is from a Place - Nobody knows of !
Damn, I want to name my firstborn Helmut but I most likely have cTE
Kā iet Latvijā?
His name is Helmuts not Helmut.
Imagine if your name was helmet
Helmut’s helmets.
Znaroks lidzigi aardijas DEL3 DEL2
So your saying I still have a chance to make the nhl? 😁🤣
It's Helmuts Balderis not Helmut :)
Because he is Latvian. All (almost) Latvian men's names have -S at the end. This is a peculiarity of grammar. Latvian is an archaic Indo-European language and so was your ancestors 5,000 years ago, whoever you are.
@@konradkurland5090 Yes Ik. I'm not stupid or anything
Latvian male names end in 1st or 2nd declension masculine endings, either -s/-š or -is (with a handful of mostly foreign exceptions ending in indeclinable -o, such as Ivo, Raivo, Gvido, Bruno, Oto and only a couple belonging to the 3rd declension ending in -us, such as Ingus, Mikus, Edžus, Zemgus.)
@@MrSharkFIN , Most average people, unless they are Latvians, Lithuanians, Greeks or linguists, do not know such things. It is normal.
No Helmut puns? Disappointed.
he might be better then Gretzky!!