Pronouncing NHL player names

[Stoner]

Honestly, it's one of the best things about hockey: the names (and underpinning the names the fact that it's such an international sport).

Here's a link to the NHL pronunciation guide.

https://nhl.bamcontent.com/images/assets/binary/300636256/binary-file/file.pdf

There's also a new-ish site, nhlnames.com, that seeks to have an audio clip of each player's name being pronounced. But it looks like a work in progress, and there's a flaw IMHO — the clips are of play by play announcers, and we know they butcher names all the time.

Speaking of which, what names have you butchered over the years? Which names, past or present, do you find toughest to pronounce? Is there an obligation to pronounce the names the way the players pronounce them, or is a Westernized, phonetically accurate pronunciation OK?

Right off the top, I think very few people ever got Dom's name right.

[Taro T]

24 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Honestly, it's one of the best things about hockey: the names (and underpinning the names the fact that it's such an international sport).

Here's a link to the NHL pronunciation guide.

https://nhl.bamcontent.com/images/assets/binary/300636256/binary-file/file.pdf

There's also a new-ish site, nhlnames.com, that seeks to have an audio clip of each player's name being pronounced. But it looks like a work in progress, and there's a flaw IMHO — the clips are of play by play announcers, and we know they butcher names all the time.

Speaking of which, what names have you butchered over the years? Which names, past or present, do you find toughest to pronounce? Is there an obligation to pronounce the names the way the players pronounce them, or is a Westernized, phonetically accurate pronunciation OK?

Right off the top, I think very few people ever got Dom's name right.

True.  But really have a hard time believing Rick Martin pronounced his name the way Darling pronounced it when he was growing up either.

And my favorite one was Guy Hebert going from Guy HE-bert to Gue Eh-bear when NHL announcers assumed he was French Canadian.

Personally, try to pronounce the names as the players do because it's fun.  But routinely don't quite get it right as the phonemes aren't quite the same between the various languages. (Never going to completely lose that WNY accent,)

[Andrew Amerk]

In Krueger’s intro presser, he pronounced Miroslav Satan in a way that I don’t believe I’d ever heard it before. 

[Weave]

I try to get names pronounced correctly, although I readily admit that I'm probably wrong as often as I am right.  If a player says his name is pronounced "this way", I try to pronounce it that way.  To me it seems.......disrespectful? I guess.... to willfully ignore how a player pronounces their name.

Someone correct me if I am wrong here, but wasn't one of Don Cherry's shticks to mispronounce player names that he didn't respect?  Especially European names?

My father was/is weird about this.  He'd put French accents on non French Canadians, and 'Muricanize actual French Canadians.  To this day I have no idea if he is doing it intentionally.  For example, Patrick Roy was always pronounced in the US/English phonetic way but he always strained out a French pronunciation of Darcy Regier.  Think Rej-ee-ay.

[Neo]

^Have a seat over here, on this sofa.  Better yet, lie down.

[Weave]

13 minutes ago, Neo said:

^Have a seat over here, on this sofa.  Better yet, lie down.

You have no idea.....

 

?

Edited July 14, 2019 by Weave

[Neo]

Oh, it’s “Jake Bean”!  Phewww ...  

[Andrew Amerk]

1 hour ago, Weave said:

I try to get names pronounced correctly, although I readily admit that I'm probably wrong as often as I am right.  If a player says his name is pronounced "this way", I try to pronounce it that way.  To me it seems.......disrespectful? I guess.... to willfully ignore how a player pronounces their name.

Someone correct me if I am wrong here, but wasn't one of Don Cherry's shticks to mispronounce player names that he didn't respect?  Especially European names?

My father was/is weird about this.  He'd put French accents on non French Canadians, and 'Muricanize actual French Canadians.  To this day I have no idea if he is doing it intentionally.  For example, Patrick Roy was always pronounced in the US/English phonetic way but he always strained out a French pronunciation of Darcy Regier.  Think Rej-ee-ay.

I think in the 80’s, he was butchering Euro names on purpose. I think today, he’s just old and too excitable, because I hear him butchering everyone’s names. 

How does that quote go? “Canada has two official languages, English and French, and Cherry is the biggest Canadian star who can’t speak either one.”

 

Edited July 14, 2019 by Andrew Amerk

[North Buffalo]

1 hour ago, Andrew Amerk said:

I think in the 80’s, he was butchering Euro names on purpose. I think today, he’s just old and too excitable, because I hear him butchering everyone’s names. 

How does that quote go? “Canada has two official languages, English and French, and Cherry is the biggest Canadian star who can’t speak either one.”

 

Don Cherry is an asshat.. nuff said.  

[etiennep99]

I love our new defenceman: JokeeHarJew....JokeeharYou...Yokeeharhew...Yokeeharhyu....Yokeeharyu. 

I think that the last one is correct, I believe. 

It's just crazy how many of the highlight films have the announcer pronouncing the "J' as both "J" and "Y" in the same word !!

My trusty Google search tells me that indeed, "J" is always pronounced as "Y" in Finnish. (As opposed to English letters like

C and G which can change according to which letter follows.)

 

Jokiharju just rolls off my tongue like a river of water....Joki  and Jokinen mean "river(s)".    Like my favourite comedienne Joan JokiehardJew

(nee Molinsky), a Russian who must have been from Karelia.

[etiennep99]

We should trade for Jake Virtanen, Mikko Koskinen, & Mats Niskanen

We could have the play-by-play of: Ruotsalainen, Laaksonen, Niskanen, Virtanen passes to Jokiharju, Koskinen  means " Swedish - little Valley - source of- small stream - passes to - river - rapids".

Kukkonen translates to a barnyard word which has the double-entendre that we see in Pekar and Peca.

Ristolainen kinda means place-of/son-of Risto.   Originally (before the Winter War),  the Ristolainen name came from Finnish Karelia.

Edited July 15, 2019 by etiennep99
Added Koskinen, Niskanen, and fixed typo

[North Buffalo]

4 hours ago, etiennep99 said:

We should trade for Jake Virtanen, Mikko Koskinen, & Mats Niskanen

We could have the play-by-play of: Ruotsalainen, Laaksonen, Niskanen, Virtanen passes to Jokiharju, Koskinen  means " Swedish - little Valley - source of- small stream - passes to - river - rapids".

Kukkonen translates to a barnyard word which has the double-entendre that we see in Pekar and Peca.

Ristolainen kinda means place-of/son-of Risto.   Originally (before the Winter War),  the Ristolainen name came from Finnish Karelia.

That would mess up so many announcers it would just be silly