NOVOKUZNETSK, Russia – Former Russian world junior champion Sergei Lantratov passed away at the age of 61 in his hometown of Novokuznetsk in Siberia.

Lantratov was brought to hospital two weeks ago and in artificial coma since the surgery. He died on Monday. A farewell event will be held at the Sports Palace in Novokuznetsk on Thursday.

Although he never played in the top Soviet league since his teams in Novokuznetsk and other cities in central and east part of the country (Novosibirsk, Izhevsk) played in the second or third tier, the forward represented his country at several occasions in international junior events. He played at the U18 European Championship in 1974 (silver) and 1975 (gold) and at the World Junior Championship in 1975 and 1976, the editions before it became an official IIHF event, winning gold at each occasion.

For Metallurg Novokuznetsk he had his debut as a 16-year-old in the second Soviet league in a game against Dinamo Riga in 1972. Known as “brigadier” among local fans, he scored 564 goals and had 734 points in 698 career games. In the ‘90s he joined the team in the top Russian league as a team manager. His sons Sergei and Vladislav briefly played for the club as well.