Juha Widing

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".

Career

Widing was born in Oulu, Finland, to a Finnish mother, Hilkka (née Moilanen). They moved to Sweden with his Swedish-speaking Finnish father, 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.