{{Short description|Swedish ice hockey player}} {{More citations needed|date=January 2009}} {{Infobox ice hockey player | position = Centre |image=WhiteyWidingLA.png |caption=Widing in 1974 photo | shoots = Left | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 1 | weight_lb = 190 | played_for = New York Rangers<br>Los Angeles Kings<br>Cleveland Barons<br>Edmonton Oilers | birth_date = {{birth date|1947|7|4|mf=y}} | birth_place = Oulu, Finland | death_date = {{death date and age|1984|12|30|1947|7|4|mf=y}} | death_place = Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada | career_start = 1967 | career_end = 1978 }} '''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".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/w/widinju01.html |title=Juha Widing |website=Hockey-Reference.com |access-date=May 23, 2024}}</ref>

==Career== thumb|Widing in 1974 action shot for the Kings Widing was born in Oulu, Finland, to a Finnish mother, Hilkka ({{nee|Moilanen}}). They moved to Sweden with his Swedish-speaking Finnish father, Yngve Widing, when he was four years old, and he received Swedish citizenship.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.is.fi/nhl/art-2000006146498.html |title=Oulussa syntynyt Juha oli Wayne Gretzkyn lapsuuden suuri sankari ja NHL-tähti – kuoli traagisesti vain 37-vuotiaana |last=Knuuttila |first=Mikko |date=June 18, 2019 |website=Ilta-Sanomat |language=fi |access-date=September 7, 2020 |quote=Ruotsissa, jonne hän muutti vain nelivuotiaana äitinsä Hilkan (omaa sukua Moilanen) ja Tammisaaresta kotoisin olleen isänsä Yngven}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5tUDwAAQBAJ |title=Kiekkoilua yli Atlantin |last=Kauhala |first=Hannu |date=2018 |publisher=Tammi |isbn=9789513199678 |language=fi |access-date=September 7, 2020 |quote=syntynyt Oulussa, mutta oli Ruotsin kansalainen vanhempien muutettua ensin Grumsiin ja sitten Göteborgiin}}</ref> 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==== {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em" |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! colspan="5"|Regular season ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! colspan="5"|Playoffs |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM |- | 1963–64 | GAIS | SWE II | 18 || 12 || — || — || — | — || — || — || — || — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 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 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 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 | — || — || — || — || — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 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 | — || — || — || — || — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1969–70 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 4 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 | — || — || — || — || — |- | 1970–71 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 78 || 25 || 40 || 65 || 24 | — || — || — || — || — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1971–72 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 78 || 27 || 28 || 55 || 26 | — || — || — || — || — |- | 1972–73 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 77 || 16 || 54 || 70 || 30 | — || — || — || — || — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 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 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1975–76 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 67 || 7 || 15 || 22 || 26 | — || — || — || — || — |- | 1976–77 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 47 || 3 || 8 || 11 || 8 | — || — || — || — || — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1976–77 | Cleveland Barons | NHL | 29 || 6 || 8 || 14 || 10 | — || — || — || — || — |- | 1977–78 | Edmonton Oilers | WHA | 71 || 18 || 24 || 42 || 8 | — || — || — || — || — |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" | WHA totals ! 71 !! 18 !! 24 !! 42 !! 8 ! — !! — !! — !! — !! — |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" | NHL totals ! 575 !! 144 !! 226 !! 370 !! 208 ! 8 !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 2 |}

====International==== {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:50em" |- align="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Year ! Team ! Event ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | &nbsp; ! 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.

==References== *''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=== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Ice hockey stats}}

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