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| Juha Widing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | July 4, 1947 Oulu, Finland | ||
| Died | December 30, 1984 (aged 37) Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | New York Rangers Los Angeles Kings Cleveland Barons Edmonton Oilers | ||
| Playing career | 1967–1978 | ||
Juha Markku Widing (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".[1]
Career
[edit]Widing was born in Oulu, Finland, to a Finnish mother, Hilkka (née Moilanen). They moved to Sweden with his Finnish-Swedish stepfather, Yngve Widing, when he was four years old, and he received Swedish citizenship.[2][3] 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
[edit]Regular season and playoffs
[edit]| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
[edit]| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Sweden | CC | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Death
[edit]Widing settled in British Columbia in 1978 and died of a heart attack on December 30, 1984, aged 37.
References
[edit]- Players: The Ultimate A-Z Guide of Everyone Who Has Ever Played in the NHL by Andrew Podnieks page 907 ISBN 0-385-25999-9.
Notes
[edit]- ^ "Juha Widing". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
- ^ Knuuttila, Mikko (June 18, 2019). "Oulussa syntynyt Juha oli Wayne Gretzkyn lapsuuden suuri sankari ja NHL-tähti – kuoli traagisesti vain 37-vuotiaana". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved September 7, 2020.
Ruotsissa, jonne hän muutti vain nelivuotiaana äitinsä Hilkan (omaa sukua Moilanen) ja Tammisaaresta kotoisin olleen isänsä Yngven
- ^ Kauhala, Hannu (2018). Kiekkoilua yli Atlantin (in Finnish). Tammi. ISBN 9789513199678. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
syntynyt Oulussa, mutta oli Ruotsin kansalainen vanhempien muutettua ensin Grumsiin ja sitten Göteborgiin
External links
[edit]- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database