Lyle Odelein, a Stanley Cup-winning defenseman who played 16 NHL seasons and became the first captain in Columbus Blue Jackets history, has died at 58.
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Odelein died of a heart attack overnight Friday, Oct. 2, sources told King Jemison of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He finished his playing career with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005-06 and made the area his home after retirement.
A native of Quill Lake, Saskatchewan, Odelein was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the seventh round of the 1986 NHL Draft. He made his NHL debut in February 1990 and helped Montreal win the Stanley Cup in 1993.
That championship came early in a career built on physical play and a willingness to defend his teammates. Odelein appeared in 1,056 NHL games, recording 50 goals, 252 points and 2,316 penalty minutes.
After seven seasons with Montreal, he played for six other NHL teams. His stops included the New Jersey Devils, where he played from 1996 to 2000, and Columbus, which named him its inaugural captain when the Blue Jackets began play in 2000-01.
Odelein survived a rare triple transplant in 2018
Odelein faced a major health crisis years after leaving hockey. According to the Post-Gazette, a cactus prick while golfing in Arizona in 2018 likely led to a blood infection that attacked his aortic valve and caused his liver and kidneys to fail.
He underwent a rare triple transplant and survived, eventually recovering from the procedure.
Odelein and his wife, Laurel, lived in Fox Chapel and owned dozens of Supercuts franchises in Pittsburgh and other locations. Although his stint with the Penguins lasted just one season, his connection to the city continued long after his final game.
"I played in a lot of cities — it's something about the people in Pittsburgh," Odelein told the Post-Gazette in 2019. "It's been great."
