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Hockey's Oddest, Weirdest, or Funniest Names for Players


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Shakespeare.jpg

 

I dunno, I am a bit bored.

Kids are playing some board games with their dad, have a baseball game going on in the background, and a bunch of weird stuff swirling around my brain....and this thread is a result of some such thoughts....haha.

 

Ok, ok...to the chase...

What hockey players names throughout history or today, do you find odd, weird, strange, or otherwise noteworthy?

 

I'll start...

 

Darren Puppa.

Former Toronto and Tampa Bay goaltender.

Not sure how he was in Toronto, but when I was a young girl, Darren PUUUPPPPAAAAA was loved by the TB fanbase.

Yes, his name is pronounced "Poo-Pa". I kid you not.

 

For years, I found myself pronouncing it "Puh-Pah".

Sounded better to my ears.

But people kept telling me NO, IT'S POOOOOPAH.

Ugh...what a wake up call for me!

 

So, all that time when Darren made the big saves, and the crowd yelled POOOOOOPAH.....one would have thought the crowd was thinking "$#!%, he let in another one!"

Haha...still loved Darren, his back gave out on him more often than not, but he sure know how to get the crowd out of their seats....unfortunate pronunciation of name or no....

 

Poooooooooooopaaaaaahhhhhh, makes the save!!

 

:thumbsu:

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Miroslav Satan's name looks rather devilish.

 

Then, of course, there's Ron Tugnutt. I won't expand on that one...

 

hah...you stole my next post item.

 

Was thinking about this one as I made my opening post.

I mean, is it just me, or does this guy look like he might fit just right wearing some horns and a red suit, eh?

miroslav_satan_profil_2011_1.6.jpg

 

People told me, "His name is Slovak...it is pronounced "Sha-tahn".

 

Ok, may be Slovak, but I know a Satan spelling when I see it! LOL!

 

And another note on this guy: Why didn't he ever play for the NJ Devils!!?? Someone ENTIRELY missed a good marketing gimmick here.......  :lol:

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hah...you stole my next post item.

 

Was thinking about this one as I made my opening post.

I mean, is it just me, or does this guy look like he might fit just right wearing some horns and a red suit, eh?

miroslav_satan_profil_2011_1.6.jpg

 

People told me, "His name is Slovak...it is pronounced "Sha-tahn".

 

Ok, may be Slovak, but I know a Satan spelling when I see it! LOL!

 

And another note on this guy: Why didn't he ever play for the NJ Devils!!?? Someone ENTIRELY missed a good marketing gimmick here.......  :lol:

 

 

I can't believe Pete Peeters never played for the Peterborough Petes.

 

Robin Big Snake.

 

Valeri Zelepukin

 

I always got a laugh out of the pronunciation of Mike Knuble. Actually my wife used to literally lol everytime she heard it so I bought her one of those pink Flyer jerseys with #22 and CANOE-BULL across the back.

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The funniest I remember was a combination of two names that ESPN put together. I don't remember what the piece was they were broadcasting. I believe it was in the playoffs though in Buffalo was one of the teams. The anchor person combined AlexI Zhitnik and Richard Shmelik. He was talking about Buffalo's play and said it "Shmelik Zhitnik"!

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Jonathan Quick.

 

Ok, so its not so much 'funny', but rather ironic.

A goaltender named Quick.

And he DOES live up to the name....but makes me wonder: what if he had Ray Emery-like lateral movement and was just plain late with his glove hand.

 

He'd have to be legally changed to Jonathan Slow, no?

Well, the fans would make sure of that anyways.... :)

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And yes, ok, let's get this one out of the way so the schoolkids amongst you can get your giggles out of your systems:

Grant Clitsome.

As @ScottM pointed out with Ron Tugnutt...probably no further need to elaborate, eh?  :rolleyes:

 

And here is a tongue twister that Tampa Bay Lightning broadcasters had to wrestle with in the mid 90's....

 

"Puppa retrieves the puck, passes to Ulanov....to Afanasenkov...to Selivanov....and they Score-Ov !"

 

Come to think of it, even today, Bolts announcers may have to deal with those "Ovs" while calling a game, what with Nesterov, Kucherov, and the ever popular, alphabet busting, Namestnikov

:)

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Jonathan Quick.

 

Ok, so its not so much 'funny', but rather ironic.

A goaltender named Quick.

And he DOES live up to the name....but makes me wonder: what if he had Ray Emery-like lateral movement and was just plain late with his glove hand.

 

He'd have to be legally changed to Jonathan Slow, no?

Well, the fans would make sure of that anyways.... :)

 

I recall a couple years ago watching a playoff game between the Blackhawks and the Kings.  After Quick has made a save on a shot by Patrick Sharp, I made this rather interesting connection:

 

Quick had to be Sharp to stop a Quick shot from Sharp.  So no matter how sharp Sharp was, Quick was quicker. 

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I recall a couple years ago watching a playoff game between the Blackhawks and the Kings.  After Quick has made a save on a shot by Patrick Sharp, I made this rather interesting connection:

 

Quick had to be Sharp to stop a Quick shot from Sharp.  So no matter how sharp Sharp was, Quick was quicker. 

 

Well now, that is all very nice....however,

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

 

:cool[1]:

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Well now, that is all very nice....however,

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

 

:cool[1]:

 

Woodchuck... Is he Ukrainian?

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Woodchuck... Is he Ukrainian?

 

Hmm.... Ukranian, you just reminded me of something I've always noticed about hockey:

They got a bunch of "Chuks" that have played or play in the NHL!!

 

Partial 'Chuk' list, off the top of my head:

 

Dave AndreyCHUK

Dale HowerCHUK

Ilya KovalCHUK

Richard MatviCHUK

Igor KravCHUK

 

 

I am sure I've left several NHL 'Chuks' off....and speaking of 'offs'...I am sure a pretty impressive list of Russian "Ovs" can be made as well....I already named at least 5 or 6 from the Lightning alone in a previous post...lol

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It's low hanging fruit, but there's always:

http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/d/dickha01.html

 

I always got a kick out of names like

 

-Dave Snuggerud

-Zarley Zalapski

 

 

Or, you could make little word plays on some guy's names:

 

-Don't Toews Me Bro

 

Etc, etc, etc

 

I don't know why, but when I hear Zarley Zalapski, I think of some teen actor from some bad 80's hijinks movie.  :lol:

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@TropicalFruitGirl26 As I understand it, Edmonton is sometimes referred to as Edmonchuk because of a large ethnic Ukrainian population. Between the population of Canada that has Ukrainian ancestry and the melding of Russian and Ukrainian names, there really are quite a few of them.

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@TropicalFruitGirl26 As I understand it, Edmonton is sometimes referred to as Edmonchuk because of a large ethnic Ukrainian population. Between the population of Canada that has Ukrainian ancestry and the melding of Russian and Ukrainian names, there really are quite a few of them.

 

Yes, very true. It's also called simply "The Chuk" by lots of people, too. I went to high school with so many people who names ended in -chuk it was beyond belief. The city has changed a lot over the years, and has a much broader population of immigrants from all around the world, and so that part of it is less than it used to be, but still quite strong.

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I don't know why, but when I hear Zarley Zalapski, I think of some teen actor from some bad 80's hijinks movie.  :lol:

 

Right!   lol

 

The picture I get in my head is more like a bad sitcom from that era, about a family where the Dad is a robot, with the opening credits showing the cast members. The last one would be "and Zarley Zalapski as Wilson", with him as the clumsy and zany character, wearing an Esprit sweater, Levis 501s and a slap watch, making a pratfall over the couch and landing on a piece of pie, and then looking at the camera with a "Oh no, not again!" look on his face.

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