- Lyle Odelein died of a heart attack Friday night at age 58
- The rugged defenseman won the 1993 Stanley Cup with Montreal and was the first captain in Blue Jackets history
- Read below for a look back at his 16-year NHL career and his final trip back to Columbus
Former NHL defenseman Lyle Odelein has died at the age of 58.
King Jemison of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Saturday that Odelein suffered a heart attack Friday night. He settled in Pittsburgh after his playing days and is survived by his wife, Laurel, and their three children, Paulyna, Dylan and Mackenzy.
The Quill Lake, Saskatchewan native was a seventh-round pick of the Canadiens in 1986 and broke into the NHL with Montreal in 1989-90. He spent seven seasons there and grew into a rugged, hard-hitting shutdown defenseman.
His biggest year came in 1993. Odelein put up six points (one goal, five assists) and a plus-9 rating in 20 playoff games as the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup, which is still the last title for a Canadian team.
Montreal dealt him to New Jersey for Stephane Richer ahead of the 1996-97 season. He spent three-plus years on a loaded Devils blue line, but a March 2000 trade to Phoenix meant he missed New Jersey’s Cup run that spring.
The Blue Jackets grabbed him in the 2000 expansion draft and named him the first captain in franchise history. Columbus traded him to Chicago in March 2002 for Jaroslav Spacek, and he later suited up for Dallas, Florida and Pittsburgh before retiring after the 2005-06 season.
The numbers tell you exactly what kind of player he was. Odelein finished with 50 goals, 252 points and 2,316 penalty minutes in 1,056 games, a PIM total that ranks 30th in NHL history.
Here’s Odelein squaring off with Kelly Chase back in October 1992:
Internationally, he represented Canada at the inaugural World Cup of Hockey in 1996, where the Canadians finished as runners-up.
Columbus brought him back this past March for the team’s 25th Anniversary Celebration. Odelein lit the cannon before puck drop at Nationwide Arena alongside fellow alumni Rick Nash, Jack Johnson, Andrew Cassels and Fedor Tyutin.
Watch Odelein fire the cannon in front of the Columbus crowd:
That weekend, he talked to BlueJackets.com about what that first Columbus team meant to him.
“We had a lot of character guys,” Odelein said. “We weren’t the most talented team, but everybody in our dressing room was really close. We all went out together, whether it was the guys or the families and stuff. It was just a great experience, and one of my best times was in Columbus.”
He also fought through a frightening health ordeal in 2018 that started with a cactus prick on a golf course and ended with heart valve, liver and kidney transplants.
We at Gino Hard send our condolences to Odelein’s family, friends and former teammates.
