Hockey History with Glenn McCready

What's in a Name?
By Glenn McCready, Historian Guy

When Clancy was "King";
And Johnson was "Ching";
A very cool nickname
Was a real common thing.
Politically Correct?
Not in that time;
When in Boston
3 guys made up the "Kraut Line".
>From "Tiny" to "Shrimp";
And "Gump" and to "Rollie";
The best of the nicknames;
Belong to the Goalies.
The "Great One", the "Next One";
bring a sense of power.
But that theory is worthless;
When you think of "The Flower".

While it's great to look through books (and this very website!), at the stories of old games and teams (Hockey History, with you know who), one of the great things you come upon is some of the names of the players, both of the "nick" and standard variety.
Some of the nicknames given to players over the years are quite simple to understand. Glenn Hall was "Mr. Goalie", Gordie Howe was "Mr. Hockey", and of course, Claude Lemieux, "Mr. Pain in the Ass".
Sometimes, players were handed monikers en masse, like "The Kraut Line", duly named for their German hometown (in Ontario?). We've seen "The Production Line", in Detroit, The "GAG" Line (not for bad jokes but for "Goal A Game") from The Rangers, and three different "Kid" lines, one each in Montreal, Toronto, and Edmonton. These are all obvious in their derivations, as are things like "Terrible" Ted Green, Nels "Ol' Poison" Stewart and, Stu "Grim Reaper" Grimson.
But as a wise man once said (it may have even been me), when it comes to the REAL names, "you just can't make this stuff up!" What could be better than a big, bruising defenseman named Beukeboom, except perhaps a big, bruising defenseman named Bart Crashley who played for the K.C. Scouts.
Sometimes, a player's name will have just the right ring to it, making it stick in your head, like Darcy Wakaluk. And, for a guy who delivered the Rangers their first Cup in 54 years, Mark Messier's name just looks like a typo. Nikolai Khabibulin just won't sound right unless you put on a "Boris Badenov" voice, giving it the respect it deserves.
Although most of the French-Canadian names just sound SO great, I'll never forget the Forum announcer giving the lineup for those great teams:
Jacques Lemaire
Guy Lapointe
Guy Lafleur
Yvan Cournoyer...
Larry Robinson?, Ken Dryden? Steve Shutt? Try as he might, there was NO way to make those sound French.
Alas, I leave you with one of my personal favorites, I give you: Modere "Mud" Bruneteau, who in his rookie season scored the winning goal in what is still the longest game in NHL history, scoring in the sixth overtime, against the Montreal Maroons.