Konstantin Koltsov, Former NHL Player and Boyfriend of Tennis Star Aryna Sabalenka, Dead at 42 – E! Online

The sports community is in mourning. 

Konstantin Koltsov, a former professional ice hockey player from Belarus, died, according to Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) team Salavat Yulaev. Koltsov, who was dating tennis superstar Aryna Sabalenka, was 42. 

“He was a strong and cheerful person,” the team, for which Koltsov was a player and then an assistant coach, said in a translated March 18 statement. “He was loved and respected by players, colleagues, and fans.”

“Konstantin forever wrote himself into the history of our club,” the statement continued. “[He] won the Russian Championship and the Gagarin Cup as part of Salavat Yulaev, and did a great job on the team’s coaching staff.”

No cause of death has been shared at this time. 

During his professional career, Koltsov represented his country at the Winter Olympics in 2002 and 2010 and spent three seasons on the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins between 2003 and 2006.

The Pennsylvania team shared a statement on Koltsov’s passing, noting he was their first-round draft choice in 1999, going on to play a total of 144 NHL games. As the team shared, “The Penguins extend their deepest condolences to the family and friends of former Penguins forward, Konstantin Koltsov.”