Blue Jackets captain for inaugural season Lyle Odelein dies
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Lyle Odelein, the first captain in Blue Jackets history, died Oct. 2 at age 58, according to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
The paper reported that Odelein suffered a heart attack.
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The Blue Jackets selected Odelein in the expansion draft on June 23, 2000, and signed him on July 3, 2000, a day before they inked goaltender Ron Tugnutt. Odelein was named captain before the club's inaugural season.
Odelein had a secondary assist on the Blue Jackets first overtime game-winning goal, a Geoff Sanderson score on Dec. 8, 2000, against Boston. Columbus won 3-2. Odelein led the team in ice time in 2001-2002 averaging 22:11 a game.
He went to the Chicago Blackhawks when the Blue Jackets traded him on March 19, 2002, for defenseman Jaroslav Spacek and a second-round pick in the 2003 NHL Draft.
Odelein had a 16-year NHL career and played for 16 different teams. He finished with 184 fights and 2,316 career penalty minutes. He also had 50 goals and 252 points.
According to the Gazette, Odelein, who settled in Pittsburgh following his 2005 retirement, had been in ill health in recent years. He needed heart, liver and kidney transplants after suffering a blood infection believed to be caused by a catcus prick in Arizona in 2018.
He and his wife, Laurel, owned dozens of Supercuts franchises in the Pittsburgh area and beyond, the paper reported.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets captain for inaugural season Lyle Odelein dies