The current state of nicknames for players in hockey is utterly appalling.
Todd Bertuzzi was "Bert". Markus Naslund was "Nazzy". Roberto Luongo is "Bobby Lu".
Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson is "Alfie". Capitals dynamo Alex Ovechkin is "Ovie".
Adding a "ee" sound to the end of a name? Not very creative.
But the Brits are great with nicknames for their soccer players. And beautifully irreverent. The way it should be in sports.
Take Paul Gascoigne, the former great English soccer player. His nickname was Gazza. When he put on weight, the fans and media gave him a new nickname: Fatzza Gazza.
A Sun Media columnist's colleague Donna Casey's stepson-in-law Tom Hewitt and his wife Emma were in Ottawa recently. They're from Southampton in England. They'd never seen an NHL game, but watched the Senators playing on TV. As soon as Tom heard Senators goalie Pascal Leclaire's name mentioned, he dubbed him with a nickname: Choco Leclaire. Now that's cool. Love it.
Nicknames are generic to sports. Charlie Hustle (Pete Rose). Broadway Joe (Joe Namath). Wilt The Stilt (Wilt Chamberlain. The Iron Horse (Lou Gehrig). The Assassin (Jack Tatum). The Refrigerator (William Perry). The Splendid Splinter (Ted Williams). (Mean) Joe Greene.
And in hockey: The Rocket (Maurice Richard). The Pocket Rocket (Henri Richard). Boom-Boom (Bernie Geoffrion). Big Bird (Don Saleski). The Fog (Fred Shero). The Golden Jet (Bobby Hull). Terrible Ted (Ted Lindsay). The Grim Reaper (Stu Grimson). Leapin' Lou (Lou Fontinato). Mr. Zero (Frankie Brimsek). The Hammer (Dave Schultz). Dave (Tiger) Williams.
Nicknames that stuck.
Nicknames from when there was imagination in sports. Fun.
We want to hear your best nickname for a Canucks player. Tweet it to @24hoursvan or e-mail it to van24feedback@sunmedia.ca. We'll print the best of them in a future issue.
