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