Jim Wiste

Who is Jim Wiste?

James Andrew Wiste is a retired professional ice hockey player who spent parts of three seasons in the National Hockey League between 1968 and 1971. He was an original member of the Vancouver Canucks upon their entry into the NHL in 1970, although his time with the club would be limited.

Wiste was a college hockey star at the University of Denver, where he was named a Western Collegiate Hockey Association First-Team All-Star and NCAA First-Team All-American in both 1966–67 and 1967–68. He would also lead Denver to a memorable triumph over the University of North Dakota in the 1968 NCAA Championship game.

Following his graduation, Wiste was signed as a free agent by the NHL Chicago Black Hawks in 1968, one of three University of Denver teammates to join Chicago along with Keith Magnuson and Cliff Koroll. He would establish himself as a quality scorer in minor-pro, but unlike Magnuson and Koroll who both became fixtures in the Chicago lineup for more than a decade, Wiste found the adjustment to the NHL difficult, and found it hard to get icetime on a deep Black Hawk team. After a 3-game stint in Chicago in 1968–69, he spent most of the 1969–70 campaign with the Black Hawks, but was often a healthy scratch and failed to record a goal in 26 games.