Top 30 Hockey Names of All Time

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Dec 20, 2010

Top 30 Hockey Names of All Time

Zarley Zalapski

The Vancouver Province has published its list of the 50 best names in hockey, all current, ( Click here ), so we thought we'd choose our favorite 30 of all time that evoke hockey or simply please with their color. Note: This list does not include nicknames. For the best of those, try this gallery ( Click here ). And now we begin at the end of the alphabet with a double dose of Zs from the journeyman defenseman who of the late 1980s and through the '90s. Honorable mention: Zenon Kenopka

Ziggy Palffy

Hard not to love a guy named Ziggy (short for Zigmund), who enjoyed a star turn with the Islanders and Kings during the '90s and into the 2000s before concluding with the Penguins.

Garth Snow

A winter classic. Plain and simple.

Ulf Samuelsson

A guy named Ulf just sounds mean, and this Swedish blueliner of the '80s and '90s (seen here as a Ranger) surely was.

Dave Snuggerud

A perfect name for a checking winger. The former Sabre-Shark-Flyer of the '90s sounded kind of cuddly in a rugged sort of way...

Dick Duff

NASCAR had Dick Trickle, the Hall of Fame has former Canadiens winger Dick Duff. Honorable mention: Mike Hurlbut, Bruce Shoebottom

Daren Puppa

Continuing in our thoroughly childish vein, with a name pronounced Poo-pa , this fellow's better found in the net than on the rug.

Sergei Krivokrasov

Our favorite among Russian names, the former winger (Blackhawks, Predators, Flames, Wild, Mighty Ducks) reminds us of a cosmonaut, although his NHL career was hardly stellar.

Yvan Cournoyer

Wide open to interpretation by announcers -- Eye-van Korn-noy-err , Ee-vohn Corn-why-ay , Eye-van Cornwire and all points in between -- the great Canadiens forward was probably best referred to by his nickname: The Roadrunner.

Terry Sawchuk

Hockey has its share of great "chuks" -- Ilya Kovalchuk, Darcy Hordichuk, Keith Tkachuk, Dale Hawerchuk, and Gene Achtymichuk among them -- but this Hall of Famer's name was cutting edge.

Janne Niinimaa

We nominate this Finnish defenseman as the leader of the vowel movement. Honorable mention: Hexi Riihiranta, Pete Peeters

Larry Playfair

You can only ask as much from anyone, although this bruising blueliner did have a pugnacious streak. "I remember my mom telling me 'You've got to learn to control your temper," Playfair once told Sabres magazine. "I'd get mad really quick about stupid things, I mean anything. I remember once, (in midget hockey) we lost a playoff game, and we were going down the line, shaking hands, and I just drilled a kid right in the head, I was just so mad."

Lindy Ruff

Just like the sport he played as a defenseman for the Sabres and Rangers (1979-91) and coaches in Buffalo.

John Van Boxmeer

The former Canadiens, Rockies, Sabres and Nordiques blueliner (1973-84) just summons to mind the fistic side of the game...or the penalty box where he spent a relatively modest 465 minutes during his NHL career. Steve Kraftcheck sounds like he belonged in there, too.

Hnat Domenichelli

The former Whalers-Flames-Thrashers-Wild center's first name fits nicely in the eye chart department with Mariusz Czerkawski while his last ranks with such Italian pleasers as Fernando Pisani, Carlo Colaiacovo and Dino Ciccarelli...

Colton Orr

Not the most famous Orr, but surely the leader of the tweed jacket pricey prep school set that includes Forbes Kennedy and Hartland Monahan.

Edouard Lalonde

The Hall of Fame center's name is the epitome of French-Canadian elegance -- like Jean Beliveau, Rogatien Vachon or Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond -- and his nickame was pretty cool, too: "Newsy" for his having worked in a newsprint plant.

Jordin Tootoo

This hardnosed winger hardly wears one -- a ballet outfit, we mean -- so we give him the edge over the other notable oo's that include Jonathan Cheechoo, Derek Boogaard, Pat Falloon, and Per Djoos.

Alf Pike

A Ranger forward of the 1940s, Pike sounds like he'd put your head on one. Honorable mention: Ted Speers.

Garth Butcher

This blueliner (1982-95) sounds serial-killer tough.

Miroslav Satan

Though his last name is actually pronounced "Sha-tahn", it looked devishly good on the back of his sweater.

Darius Kasparaitis

A painful affliction, like what you'd get after one of the Lithuanian defenseman's punishing checks...

Jeff Beukeboom

Perhaps the most evocative name as far as hitting and fighting go belongs to this former Oilers and Rangers blueliner. Honorable mention: Fred Boimistruck

Brad Bombardir

A defensive pairing of Bombardir (here with the Wild) and Beukeboom would have been positively explosive...

Radek Bonk

There's something cartoonishly evocative about this one. (The Czech center was Ottawa's first pick (third overall) in the 1994 entry draft.) Honorable mention: Bart Crashley, Ron Schock

Hakan Loob

The notable Flames forward of the 1980s made you think of greasy speed or the kind of nasty chest cold you get from hanging around rinks.

Bill Quackenbush

Too bad the Ducks weren't around in the 1940s and '50s, or this Hall of Fame blueliner and his brother Max would have been naturals...

Tony Twist

A notorious enforcer, his name made it sound like he'd twist your head off. Honorable mention: Morris Titanic

Jonathan Quick

Simply a great name for a goaltender. Too bad that Patrick Sharp isn't one.

Sprague Cleghorn

The Hall of Fame defenseman summons to mind the cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn, but was considerably nastier, and the horn in his last name evokes goals by the home team and the end of play in the period. Honorable mention in the sound effects department: Ville Siren, Aubrey Clapper