Konstantin Yevgeniyevich Koltsov (Канстанцін Яўгенавіч Кальцоў) (born April 17, 1981) is a Belarusian former professional ice hockey player who last played for HC Dinamo Minsk in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
1997
Koltsov started out playing for Junactva Minsk in the Belarusian 1st division during the 1997–98 season, and moved to Russian Severstal Cherepovets for the next season.
Due to his incredible speed and stick handling, he was often referred to as the "Russian Rocket II" due to his similar playing style to that of Russian great Pavel Bure.
1999
He was drafted to the NHL in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft as the Pittsburgh Penguins' first round pick, 18th overall.
2002
He played parts of three seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League between 2002 and 2006.
Internationally Koltsov played for the Belarusian national team at the 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympics and at nine World Championships.
He played for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL in the 2002–03 season, and started playing full-time for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2003–04 season, playing 82 games and scoring nine goals and twenty assists.
During the NHL lockout, Koltsov played for the Spartak Moscow hockey team.
The following season, Koltsov moved between Wilkes-Barre and Pittsburgh until January where he stayed in the NHL until the end of the season finishing with 3 goals and 6 assists.
2006
However, as a result of the Penguins not extending a qualifying offer, Koltsov became an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2006.
In August of that year he returned to Russia, signing a contract to play for Salavat Yulaev Ufa of the Russian Super League.
2007
During the 2007–08 RSL season, Koltsov would be a part of a Salavat Yulaev Ufa squad that would defeat Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to capture the RSL League Title.
2008
With the absorption of the RSL into the newly formed Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) at the start of the 2008–09 season, Salavat Yulaev Ufa would become the last standing RSL champion.
2016
On November 27, 2016, Koltsov made his retirement from professional hockey official after competing in 18 seasons.
Koltsov has played on the Belarus national team in the Winter Olympics and IIHF World Championships.
