Fittingly, Jim Wiste’s public memorial service will be held Thursday at Magness Arena, the University of Denver’s 6,000-seat hockey rink, and it will take place during the Avalanche’s bye week. The arena might not be big enough to hold all of those who loved and appreciated the man, but the service definitely belongs at DU, where hockey thrived with guys such as Wiste long before the NHL came to town.
The service belongs near Campus Lounge, the Bonnie Brae restaurant and bar Wiste owned for 40 years — where hockey pulsated until he sold it in 2016, some three years after he suffered a heart attack while playing a pickup hockey game with friends at DU. My friend died Tuesday of heart and kidney failure at Porter Adventist Hospital. He was 71.
Wiste, who co-captained the Pioneers to the 1968 NCAA championship, only played 52 career NHL games — 29 for the Chicago Blackhawks — but he was teammates with Blackhawks greats and fellow Saskatchewans Keith Magnuson and Cliff Koroll at DU in 1967-68 and with Chicago in 1969-70. In addition to Magnuson and Koral, that Blackhawks team featured forwards Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull and goalie Tony Esposito, who each were later inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Wiste was a “glue-guy” at DU and for the Blackhawks, as well as his 228-game career in the World Hockey Association while Magnuson and Koroll starred for the Blackhawks.
Wiste was always a Blackhawk, whether he was playing for them or tied in with Magnuson and Koroll, and he later became close friends with current Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, the former Avalanche assistant and head coach who led Chicago to the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015.
NBC Sports color analyst Joe Micheletti captured what Wiste meant to the Chicago Blackhawks and the Denver hockey community Wednesday while working the Blackhawks-New York Rangers game in Manhattan, N.Y. Micheletti said he met with Quenneville in the morning at Madison Square Garden and the coach was deeply grieving over his friend.
Wiste also touched former DU coach George Gwozdecky. “I considered Jim to be a friend and a trusted confidant,” said Gwozdecky, whose 19-year tenure with the program ended in 2013. “During my early years, as we attempted to revitalize our hockey alumni group, Jim was always willing to assist with making calls to other alums, encouraging them to attend home games and opening his restaurant for gatherings. During those days, Keith Magnuson was the undisputed leader of our hockey alumni who inspired the alumni and student-athletes with his energy, enthusiasm and pride for Pioneer hockey. When Keith tragically passed away in 2003, Jim stepped into his friend’s role and proudly carried the ‘leaders’ torch’ effectively for the rest of his days.
“There were very few who were as generous or had a greater sense of humor and a love for life and his friends than Jim.”
I met Jim Wiste some 20 years ago, and Campus Lounge was typically the go-to place after working DU games. At some point we exchanged cellphone numbers but I really never got to know the man until the 2016 NCAA Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla., when we met daily for lunch or drinks with mutual friends. We later texted and talked about the Pioneers and the Blackhawks, among other things, and that’s when I knew I had made it.
I had Jim Wiste’s trust, and I was his friend. I had become a genuine hockey writer, and I was capable of writing about his legacy.
NHL spotlight
John Klingberg, D, Dallas Stars
When: The Avalanche comes off its bye week next Saturday against the Stars in Dallas. It’s the fifth and final meeting of the regular season for the Central Division rivals.
What’s up: Klingberg entered the weekend leading all NHL defenseman in assists (31) and points (36). He quarterbacks the Stars’ No. 1 power play and has 15 power-play points (one goal).
Background: From Goteborg, Sweden, Klingberg was drafted in the fifth round (131st overall) in 2010. A late-round draft pick usually means that player will require minor-league development but Klingberg played just 13 games for the American Hockey League’s Texas Stars before becoming entrenched on Dallas’ blue line. He is in his fourth full NHL season and nearing a 200-point career milestone.
Chambers’ take: Klingberg proves that you can develop a late-round draft pick into a top-pair NHL defenseman, but the truth is, it’s extremely rare that it happens.
