ST. PETERSBURG – Former Russian national junior player Nikolai Maslov passed away yesterday at the age of 57.

Maslov was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and player 12 years in the top Soviet league for SKA Leningrad winning a bronze medal in 1987. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union he went abroad to play for Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia) and EV Landshut (Germany) before returning to St. Petersburg for a season in the Russian league. He ended his career in 1995 with Swedish minor-league team Malmbergets AIF.

As a junior he represented the Soviet Union in the 1978 IIHF U18 European Championship winning silver and at the 1979 IIHF World Junior Championship winning gold.

He later stayed involved in ice hockey in his hometown as coach at SKA St. Petersburg and most recently as Vice President of the St. Petersburg Ice Hockey Federation.