Juha Widing

Juha Markku Widing (VEE-ding; July 4, 1947 – December 30, 1984) was a Swedish-Finnish professional ice hockey centre and the third Finn (after Albert Pudas and Pentti Lund) to play in the National Hockey League (NHL). Here he spent eight seasons, mostly with the Los Angeles Kings. His nicknames were "Whitey" and "Flying Finn".

Career

Widing was born in Oulu, Finland, to a Finnish mother, Hilkka . They moved to Sweden with his Swedish-speaking Finnish stepfather, Yngve Widing, when he was four years old, and he received Swedish citizenship. In 1964 his family moved to Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, so he could play junior ice hockey for the Brandon Wheat Kings. He played three seasons there, improving his point total each season from 38 to 114 and then finally to 144 in only a 50-game schedule. He was named to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League Second All-Star Team in 1967.

Widing joined the New York Rangers of the NHL in 1969–70, thus becoming the first mostly European-trained player with a full-time contract in the NHL. After only 44 games he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings along with Réal Lemieux for Ted Irvine. In Los Angeles he developed into a legitimate scoring threat, garnering at least 55 points in five consecutive seasons. Kings' owner Jack Kent Cooke gave him the nickname "Whitey" and instructed his announcers to pronounce his last name as "why-ding" as opposed to the real pronunciation of "vee-ding". He often played on a line with Bob Berry and Mike Corrigan known as "the hot line".

By 1976 Widing's productivity had dropped considerably, and he was traded to the Cleveland Barons the following season. In 1977–78, he played for the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association, scoring 42 points in his final professional season. Traded to the Indianapolis Racers for Bill Goldsworthy, he retired instead of playing.

Statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1963–64 GAIS SWE II 18 12 — — — — — — — — 1964–65 Brandon Wheat Kings SJHL 45 23 15 38 26 9 3 5 8 6 1965–66 Brandon Wheat Kings SJHL 50 62 52 114 29 11 8 14 22 4 1966–67 Brandon Wheat Kings MJHL 43 70 74 144 64 9 5 10 15 6 1967–68 Omaha Knights CHL 62 27 33 60 19 — — — — — 1968–69 Omaha Knights CHL 72 41 39 80 58 7 2 4 6 0 1969–70 New York Rangers NHL 44 7 7 14 10 — — — — — 1969–70 Los Angeles Kings NHL 4 0 2 2 2 — — — — — 1970–71 Los Angeles Kings NHL 78 25 40 65 24 — — — — — 1971–72 Los Angeles Kings NHL 78 27 28 55 26 — — — — — 1972–73 Los Angeles Kings NHL 77 16 54 70 30 — — — — — 1973–74 Los Angeles Kings NHL 71 27 30 57 26 5 1 0 1 2 1974–75 Los Angeles Kings NHL 80 24 36 60 46 3 0 2 2 0 1975–76 Los Angeles Kings NHL 67 7 15 22 26 — — — — — 1976–77 Los Angeles Kings NHL 47 3 8 11 8 — — — — — 1976–77 Cleveland Barons NHL 29 6 8 14 10 — — — — — 1977–78 Edmonton Oilers WHA 71 18 24 42 8 — — — — — WHA totals 71 18 24 42 8 — — — — — NHL totals 575 144 226 370 208 8 1 2 3 2

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1976 Sweden CC 5 1 1 2 0

Death Widing settled in British Columbia in 1978 and died of a heart attack on December 30, 1984, aged 37.