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Former Pittsburgh Penguins First Round Pick Draft Dead At 42
Konstantin Koltsov, a former Belarusian hockey player who represented the Belarusian national team and played three seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, passed away this week at the age of 42. The cause of death is listed as an apparent suicide and that Koltsov has jumped from a balcony.
Koltsov was born in Minsk, Belarus. Konstantin earned the nickname “The Russian Rocket II” while playing in the Belarusian first division. During this time, he also caught the attention of scouts from the National Hockey League (NHL). In 1999, Koltsov was selected 18th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
This is how we will remember Konstantin Koltsov.
— Belarushockey.com (@Belarushockey) March 19, 2024
Young, ambitious, with a bright outlook on the future.
We will miss you a lot. pic.twitter.com/1exSvg7QAR
Koltsov then played for the Penguins’ AHL team, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, for the entire 2002-2003 season.In the next season, Koltsov was promoted from playing in the AHL and started playing full-time for the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the 2003-2004 season, Konstantin played 82 games, scored nine goals, and had twenty assists.
During the 2004-2005 NHL lockout, Koltsov played for the Spartak Moscow hockey team, where he scored six goals in just thirty-one games. Following the lockout year, Koltosov returned to the Penguins organization, where he moved back and forth between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Pittsburgh.
During the 2007-2008 season, while playing in the RSL, Koltsov was a part of the Salavat Yulaev Ufa squad that became the last to win the RSL league title before the league was absorbed into the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Koltsov was also part of Salavat Yulaev Ufa’s KHL championship team during the 2010-2011 season.
In 2016, after playing 18 seasons of professional hockey, Koltsov retired and pursued a coaching career. This path led him to become an assistant coach for his former team, Salavat Yulaev Ufa, where he remained as a coach for two seasons until his passing.
Rest in peace!
