Juha Widing

Juha Markku "Whitey" Widing

• Born: July 4, 1947 in Oulu, Finland
• Hometown: Grums, Sweden
• Died: December 30, 1984 in Kelowna, British Columbia
• Position: Center

Playing career

Widing was a professional ice hockey centre who was the third Finnish-born player to play in the National Hockey League. Widing, although born in Finland, grew up in Sweden and both his parents were Swedish. In 1964, along with his family, he moved to Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, to play junior 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. Widing joined the New York Rangers of the NHL in 1969–70, however after only forty-four games he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings along with Réal Lemieux for Ted Irvine. It was in LA where he developed into a legitimate scoring threat, garnering at least 55 points in five consecutive seasons. It was also in L.A. that 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."

However by 1976–77 his productivity had dropped considerably, and he was traded to the Cleveland Barons. In 1977–78, Widing played for the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association, scoring 42 points in his final professional season. After the season, he was traded to the Indianapolis Racers for Bill Goldsworthy, but he was already finished playing hockey. After retiring, Widing settled in British Columbia. He died on December 30, 1984 from a heart attack, aged 37.

Career Statistics

				Regular Season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1963-64	Goteborgs AIS	Sweden4		18	12
1964-65	Brandon Wheat Kings	SJHL		45	23	15	38	26		9	3	5	8	6
1965-66	Brandon Wheat Kings	SJHL		54	62	54	116	35		11	8	14	22	4
1966-67	Brandon Wheat Kings	MJHL		43	70	74	144	64		9	5	10	15	6
	Port Arthur Marrs	Memorial Cup		--	--	--	--	--		5	2	2	4	4
1967-68	Omaha Knights	CPHL		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		--	--	--	--	--
	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	26	34	60	46		3	0	2	2	0
1975-76	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		67	7	15	22	26		--	--	--	--	--
1976-77	Sweden	Canada Cup		5	1	1	2	0		--	--	--	--	--
	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		47	3	8	11	8		--	--	--	--	--
	Cleveland Barons	NHL		29	6	8	14	10		--	--	--	--	--
1977-78	Edmonton Oilers	WHA		71	18	24	42	8		5	0	1	1	0
WHA Totals				71	18	24	42	8		5	0	1	1	0
NHL Totals				575	144	226	370	208		8	1	2	3	2

Awards & Achievements

• Selected to SJHL All-Star Game (1966), played one token shift because of an injury
• MJHL League Record Most Goals (1967)
• MJHL League Record Most Assists (1967)
• MJHL League Record Most Points (1967)
• MJHL Second All-Star Team (1967)
• CHL Second All-Star Team (1969)
• Played for Sweden in Canada Cup (1976)

Career Moves

• Traded to Los Angeles by NY Rangers with Real Lemieux for Ted Irvine, February 28, 1970.
• Traded to Cleveland by Los Angeles with Gary Edwards for Jim Moxey and Gary Simmons, January 22, 1977.
• Signed as a free agent by Edmonton (WHA), June, 1978.
• Traded to Indianapolis (WHA) by Edmonton (WHA) for Bill Goldsworthy, June, 1978.

External links

• Juha Widing's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database

This article is part of the Swedish hockey portal.

This article is part of the Finnish hockey portal