Juha Markku Widing (July 4, 1947 – December 30, 1984) was a Swedish-Finnish

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

and the third Finn (after Albert Pudas and

Pentti Lund Pentti Alexander Lund (December 6, 1925 – April 16, 2013) was a Finnish Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played for the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. Lund was often credited as being the first ...

) to play in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). Here he spent eight seasons, mostly with the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

. His nicknames were "Whitey" and "

Flying Finn "The Flying Finn" (, ) is a nickname given to several Finnish athletes who were noted for their speed. Originally, it was given to several Finnish middle and long-distance runners. The term was later extended to notable Finnish racing driver ...

Career

Widing was born in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

, Finland, to a Finnish mother, Hilkka (). They moved to Sweden with his Finnish-Swedish stepfather, Yngve Widing, when he was four years old, and he received Swedish citizenship. In 1964 his family moved to

Brandon, Manitoba Brandon () is the second-largest city in the province of Manitoba, Canada. It is located in the southwestern corner of the province on the banks of the Assiniboine River, approximately west of the provincial capital, Winnipeg, and east of the ...

, Canada, so he could play junior ice hockey for the

Brandon Wheat Kings The Brandon Wheat Kings are a Canadians, Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Brandon, Manitoba. Founded in 1936, the team was for three decades a successful junior team playing principally in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The Whe ...

. 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 The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a Junior ice hockey, Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The MJHL consists of thirt ...

Second All-Star Team in 1967. Widing joined the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

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

along with

Réal Lemieux Réal Gaston Lemieux (January 3, 1945 – October 24, 1975) was a Canadian ice hockey right wing. He played in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres between 1967 and 1974. Ea ...

for

Ted Irvine Edward Amos Irvine (born December 8, 1944) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey, hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League from 1964 to 1977. Career Irvine was a Winger (ice hockey), left winger. He amassed a total of 331 p ...

. In Los Angeles he developed into a legitimate scoring threat, garnering at least 55 points in five consecutive seasons. Kings' owner

Jack Kent Cooke Jack Kent Cooke (October 25, 1912 – April 6, 1997) was a Canadian American businessman in broadcasting and professional sports. Starting in sales, Cooke was very successful, eventually becoming a partner in a network of radio stations and new ...

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 Michael Joseph Douglas Corrigan (born January 11, 1946) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played 594 games in the National Hockey League. He played for the Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks, and Pittsburgh Penguins. F ...

known as "the hot line". By

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

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 The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

of the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

, scoring 42 points in his final professional season. Traded to the

Indianapolis Racers The Indianapolis Racers were a major league ice hockey team that played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1974 to 1978. They competed in four full seasons before folding 25 games into the 1978–79 season. They played at Market Square ...

for

Bill Goldsworthy William Alfred Goldsworthy (August 24, 1944 – March 29, 1996) was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played for three teams in the National Hockey League for 14 seasons between 1964 and 1978, mostly with the Minnesota North S ...

, he retired instead of playing.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Death

Widing settled in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

in 1978 and died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on December 30, 1984, aged 37.

References

*''Players: The Ultimate A-Z Guide of Everyone Who Has Ever Played in the NHL'' by

Andrew Podnieks Andrew Podnieks is a Canadian author and ice hockey historian. He has written more than 45 books about hockey. He also has contributed extensively to international hockey research at the International Ice Hockey Federation, the Hockey Hall of Fame ...

page 907 .

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Widing, Juha 1947 births 1984 deaths Brandon Wheat Kings players Cleveland Barons (NHL) players Edmonton Oilers (WHA) players Finnish emigrants to Sweden Finnish ice hockey players Ice hockey people from Oulu Los Angeles Kings players New York Rangers players Omaha Knights (CHL) players Swedish ice hockey centres Swedish-speaking Finns Naturalized citizens of Sweden Swedish emigrants to Canada Swedish people of Finnish descent