Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) Club “Salavat Yulaev” Telegram-the channel confirmed the death of assistant head coach Konstantin Koltsov, which the media had already started reporting.
“He was a strong and cheerful person; He was loved and respected by his players, colleagues and fans. Konstantin Evgenievich forever wrote in the history of our club. Koltsov won the Russian Championship and the Gagarin Cup as a member of Salavat Yulaev and did a great job in the team’s coaching staff,” the Ufa team’s press service said in a statement.
Initially, Belarushockey reported that Koltsov died in the United States, where he was with his girlfriend, Belarusian tennis player Arina Sabalenka. She is scheduled to compete in the WTA-1000 series tournament in Miami.
Koltsov joined Salavat Yulaev’s technical staff in 2022. Before that, he worked for Spartak and was also the head coach of Dynamo Molodechno of the Belarusian Extraliga.
His playing career included stints in Russia and Belarus, as well as in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected 18th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. In total, he played 144 games in the NHL and scored 38 (12+26) points in these games.
Previously dead Olympic medalist Sergei Diomidov in artistic gymnastics.