What's in a (hockey) name?
by Cassie McClellan on May 6, 2010 8:00 AM CDT
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I disappointed a great many people yesterday on Twitter when I reminded / told people that Tore Vikingstad had retired from international competition. That's right, hockey fans, there is now no reason to watch the World Championships in Germany. Or, at least, there's no reason to watch Norway. (They don't have those swinging-cool curling pants in hockey, either, you know.)
Much of the Vikingstad's newfound North American celebrity was almost entirely due to two things. One, he's a hockey player. And two, his last name contains the word "Viking" in it. And that's pretty much it. (As a side note, and those of you who watched the Olympics probably remember this, his name's approximately pronounced "toe-ra vee-king-staadt".)
Well, that got me to thinking...what are some of the pretty cool hockey names out there? Past and present - why limit ourselves? Not nicknames, though that might be for another day. I'm talking real names.
What makes a good hockey name? To me, it's a strong name that flows off the tongue that can be fun to say. It's classic and withstands the test of time. Simply put, it's a name that you read or hear and immediately think to yourself, "that guy has got to be a hockey player."
So this is the audience participation part of the program, boys and girls. Leave your candidates in the comments, and let's see who can come up with the best names. Maybe I'll put up a poll in my post next week and have the people decide on who has the best hockey name. In the meantime, I'll get you started with my own list. In no particular order....
- Felix Potvin
- Jeff Beukeboom
- Gerry Cheevers
- Henrik Lundqvist
- Zarley Zalapski
- Mikko Koivu
- Stan Mikita
- Miroslav Satan
- Dino Ciccarelli
- Trevor Linden
- Marcel Dionne
- Igor Larionov
- Adam Deadmarsh
- Aki Berg
- Jean Beliveau
- Olaf Kolzig
- Al Iafrate
- Per Johan Axelsson
- Zenon Konopka
- Gordie Howe
- Alexei Ponikarovsky
- Bernie Geoffrion
- Stu Grimson
- Mats Sundin
- Vladimir Konstantinov
- Antero Niittymaki
- Howie Morenz
So what do you got?
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Needs more Ziggy Palffy.
"Grind now, shine later." - Wesley Johnson
by Afino on May 6, 2010 8:20 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
antti niemi
simply for some of the nicknames:
anti-goal, etc. when he earns a shut-out, pat foley says “another niemi no-no.”
Oops, Already there. shoot, um.
Ron Tugnutt!
Fatang Fatang.
by NeverendingOptimism on May 6, 2010 9:59 AM CDT reply actions
WHERE’S DAVID LEGWAND
On the Forecheck/Twitter/CLS
"What do you think this is? Major League Baseball?"- Shea Weber
Ummm…. I would guess that he’s probably at home. Why? ;o)
There's nothing quite like the sound of a frozen puck hitting the glass. It makes me happy.
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community.
by Cassie McClellan on May 6, 2010 10:18 AM CDT up reply actions
Heh. Ow. Sweet surname at any rate.
On the Forecheck/Twitter/CLS
"What do you think this is? Major League Baseball?"- Shea Weber
It’s definitely up there when it comes to hockey names, yeah.
There's nothing quite like the sound of a frozen puck hitting the glass. It makes me happy.
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community.
by Cassie McClellan on May 6, 2010 2:44 PM CDT up reply actions
I don’t think he’s been seen since the ’98 draft
Cheers, Complaints, homerism and bashing of mediocre pop musicians in 140 Characters
"DO NOT get stuck behind Kyle Wellwood in the buffet line. This isn't really etiquette, but it will prevent you from starving to death"- Down Goes Brown on Etiquette for Jason Spezza's wedding
by Kevin Sellathamby on May 6, 2010 11:22 AM CDT up reply actions
EIGHT POINTS IN SIX PLAYOFF GAMES BABY
On the Forecheck/Twitter/CLS
"What do you think this is? Major League Baseball?"- Shea Weber
Terry Sawchuck (One of my favorite hockey names ever)
Pavel Bure
Alex Goligoski
John Madden…wait, maybe not.
by jameshstephenson on May 6, 2010 10:31 AM CDT reply actions
I love all of the Finnish names…
Jari Kurri
Teemu Selanne
Essa Tikkanen
Joni Pitkanen
Sami Kapanen
Something about them make me think of a clean sheet of ice…
Support Coyotes Hockey - Five For Howling
(Oh, and go Philly teams as well!)
agreed. Finns Rule!
reijo ruotsalainen
per djoos
mikko makkela
jyrki lumme
risto stiltanen
kari takko
juha ylonen
by john ogrodnick on May 6, 2010 12:55 PM CDT up reply actions
Per Djoos is actually Swedish – still a great name, tho.
There's nothing quite like the sound of a frozen puck hitting the glass. It makes me happy.
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community.
by Cassie McClellan on May 6, 2010 1:08 PM CDT up reply actions
Can't go wrong with Reijo Ruotsalainen
The poor Rangers staffer who had to sew that name in arced, drop-shadow letters…
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
Jaroslav Halak
Raymond Bourque (have to say Raymond)
Brad Bombardir
Valeri Zelepukin
by Matthew Ventolo on May 6, 2010 11:23 AM CDT reply actions
Valeri Zelepuki
Valeri Kharmalov
Cheers, Complaints, homerism and bashing of mediocre pop musicians in 140 Characters
"DO NOT get stuck behind Kyle Wellwood in the buffet line. This isn't really etiquette, but it will prevent you from starving to death"- Down Goes Brown on Etiquette for Jason Spezza's wedding
by Kevin Sellathamby on May 6, 2010 11:24 AM CDT reply actions
Sorely missing Radek Bonk.
Also, Mikko but not Saku??
And, I don’t know about the rest of the world, but Jean Beliveau is a pretty standard name in Quebec, as are Felix Potvin and Marcel Dionne. Unless we’re going with the name recognition factor… anyways, great list!
Simply put, it’s a name that you read or hear and immediately think to yourself, “that guy has got to be a hockey player.”
Common names apply, too. They don’t have to be goofy or exotic. I was trying to not be too repetitive in my list, which is why I only mentioned on Koivu and not both.
There's nothing quite like the sound of a frozen puck hitting the glass. It makes me happy.
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community.
by Cassie McClellan on May 6, 2010 12:03 PM CDT up reply actions
Garth Butcher
Assistant *to* the Managing Editor, Mile High Hockey
by David Driscoll-Carignan on May 6, 2010 12:33 PM CDT reply actions
Darren Pang really is a great name for a goalie as well, because if you’re going to get beat as much as Pang did, you want some help from the posts. Unfortunately, he really didn’t get that either. But he’s a great color guy…Holy Jumpin’!!
Support Coyotes Hockey - Five For Howling
(Oh, and go Philly teams as well!)
Stanislav Neckar.
It is NOT pronounced how it looks.
A few more:
Kelly Bucheberger
Dale Hawerchuk
Andy Moog
"Ovechkin, what is good in life?"
"To crush your enemies. To see them driven before you. And to hear the lamentations of their captain."
I knew that. Neckar is pronounced “nets-KARSH” – or something very close to that, anyways. Crazy Slavic names!
There's nothing quite like the sound of a frozen puck hitting the glass. It makes me happy.
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community.
by Cassie McClellan on May 6, 2010 2:12 PM CDT up reply actions
you're forgetting vikingstad's norwegian teammate!
Mats Zucharella Aasen
Nucks Misconduct's Ambassador, Squid Provider, and Chief Puck Bunny. Now making the NM publishing crew much less of a sausage party. Also on Twitter.
wow, i've been spelling it wrong!
it’s “zuccarello”
Nucks Misconduct's Ambassador, Squid Provider, and Chief Puck Bunny. Now making the NM publishing crew much less of a sausage party. Also on Twitter.
Can’t believe I just thought of one of my faves:
Branko Radivojevic
I joked with my wife that I wanted to name my first son Branko…I was told that I will not be permitted to name any children :(
Support Coyotes Hockey - Five For Howling
(Oh, and go Philly teams as well!)
You can always sneak it in as a nickname – no matter what the kid’s actual name is.
There's nothing quite like the sound of a frozen puck hitting the glass. It makes me happy.
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community.
by Cassie McClellan on May 6, 2010 4:29 PM CDT up reply actions
If youre going with Canucks, you have to give a nod to Stan Smyl.
by john ogrodnick on May 6, 2010 9:18 PM CDT up reply actions
Karlis Skrastins
Jim Carey
Pete Peeters
Dit Clapper
Darius Kasparaitis
any player with the first name Helmut
had he made it, Sinuhe Wallinheimo would have been a shoo-in…
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http://bettmansnightmare.blogspot.com/
by Bettman's Nightmare on May 6, 2010 4:58 PM CDT reply actions
Great post, Cassie.
I always loved Oleg Tverdovsky.
http://sacrificethebody.blogspot.com/
Sacrifice the Body - Examining the NHL through statistical analysis, reasoned thought, and blind conjecture.
Thanks!
There's nothing quite like the sound of a frozen puck hitting the glass. It makes me happy.
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community.
by Cassie McClellan on May 6, 2010 8:53 PM CDT up reply actions
Last names only
Zetterberg
Spacek
Vlasic
Brind’Amour
Horton
Backes
Bonk
Clutterbuck
Other Full names
T.J. Oshie
Owen Nolan
Ziggy Palffy
Joe Nieuwendyk
Petr Klima
Petr Svoboda
Sergio Momesso
Hakan Loob
Shaun Van Allen
Joel Otto
Kevin Dineen
Saku Koivu
Kirk McLean
Chris Chelios
Todd Bertuzzi
It’s already up here, but let’s hear it for the Tugger – Ron Tugnutt. I remember an ESPN Top 10 from about 10 years ago. It was Top 10 Athletes whose names sound like an adult film star. Who was #1? . . . . . . . RON TUGNUTT!! Although, today you could also go with David Legwand!
Darius Kasparitis is up here already, too, but I like his name. It sounds like a nasty disease. Like, I travelled through the African rainforest, was bitten by a tsetse fly, and contracted a horrible case of Kasparitis.
Finally, my new addition: Vlastimil “Vlasti” Kroupa. His name sounds like a hot cereal. “Mom, can I have some more Vlastimil . . . uh, I mean: Malt-O-Meal?”
I’ve notice there’s a bit of a trend…lots of “chuck” names.
Sawchuck, Konawalchuk, Andreychuck, Tkachuk, Kindrachuk…there are plenty more, too.
I think the “chuck” sound in a name immediately makes one think “hockey player” (at least it does for me). Probably one of the more common and popular hockey name sounds.
It’s possible there’s an algorithm here for “the perfect hockey name”.
by jameshstephenson on May 7, 2010 10:05 PM CDT reply actions
I’m joining the fun a bit late, but I couldn’t resist submitting those of my favorites that haven’t been mentioned yet.
Maxim Afinogenov
Lonny Bohonos
Sheldon Brookbank
Carlo Colaiacovo
Jussi Jokinen
Sergei Krivokrasov
Roman Kukumberg (this one is cool, obviously)
Manny Legace
Marek Malik
Rumun Ndur
Randy Robitaille
Brendan Shanahan
Janis Sprukts
Wes Walz
Marek Zidlicky
My #1 with a bullet is Fido Purpur.
Writer for The Copper & Blue and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries
"Never be ashamed of who you are" -- Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
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