SLAM! HOCKEY: SERGEI ZHOLTOK

After a two-year hiatus from the NHL, Zholtok came back with a vengeance in 1996-97. Signed by the Sens as a free agent before the start of the season, Zholtok, although he was ranked as the team's No. 6 centre on the depth chart, managed to find a place in the regular lineup and collected 14 points in his first 23 games, nearly four times his career total. He finished the year with a career-high 28 points.
Zholtok followed that output with a 10-goal and 23-point effort in 1997-98, before signing a one-year deal as a free agent with the Montreal Canadiens for the 1998-99 season.
The Boston Bruins, Zholtok's first NHL team, used their second pick in the 1992 NHL entry draft (55th overall) to pick the speedy Russian forward. Zholtok spent the next two years bouncing between Providence in the AHL and the big club. When the Bruins did not renew his contract at the end of the 1994-95 season, Zholtok signed with Las Vegas (IHL) where he turned out to be a real scoring machine, with 51 goals and 101 points in 82 games.

For more on Sergei Zholtok, check out Hockey PLUS

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