All-Time Greatest Hockey Nicknames

If you have ever been part of a sports team you will have at some point received a nickname from your teammates.  Athletes tend to be pretty creative when it comes to giving each other monikers and nicknames.  Well we have researched some of the greatest nicknames in all of hockey and compiled our list of the all-time top hockey nicknames.

All-Time Greatest Hockey Nicknames

This list consists of nicknames of players, coaches and even owners.  Here is a look at some of the greatest nicknames in all of hockey.

  1. Gordie “Mr. Hockey” Howe – no better hockey nickname than this for the man who played professional hockey into his fifties.  One of the top three greatest all around players the game has ever seen.  The man had the largest hand that I ever shook.
  2. Dave ” The Hammer” Schultz – set a league record for penalty minutes in a single season while playing with the Philadelphia Flyers.  The “Hammer” was as tough as nails.
  3. Don Cherry – Grapes – former coach of the Boston Bruins and Colorado Rockies
  4. Lorne “Gump” Worsley – a nickname that stuck with the goaltender from when he was a kid as a friend called him Gump because his hair resembled a comic character by the name of Andy Gump.
  5. Wayne Gretzky – The Great One – a fitting nickname for the greatest hockey player of all-time
  6. Chris Knuckles Nilan – former NHL pugilist.
  7. George “Punch” Imlach – Hall of Fame coach of the Leafs who earned his nickname after he was accidentally knocked out by an elbow to the head during a senior league game. Upon waking, the dazed Imlach tried to punch his team’s trainer, who was merely trying to help him out.
  8. Stu “The Grim Reaper” Grimson – a play off of his last name, this enforcer was not scared of anyone and had his share of tilts in the NHL.  At 6’5″ The Grime Reaper was a menacing presence.
  9. Henri “Pocket Rocket” Richard – the smaller, younger brother of Maurice “Rocket” Richard.
  10. Larry “Big Bird” Robinson – hall of fame defenseman with the Montreal Canadiens
  11. Hector “Toe” Blake – all because his little sis couldn’t pronounce his name; she called him Hectoe
  12. Bobby “The Golden Jet” Hull – blonde hair, fast skating and a big slapshot earned this allstar the moniker of The Golden Jet.
  13. Garnet “Ace” Bailey – perished during 9/11
  14. Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion – named after his big booming shot.
  15. Maurice “The Rocket” Richard – the first player to score 50 goals in 50 games.  According to Sports Illustrated, this Canadiens’ Hall of Famer got his moniker in 1942 after teammate Ray Getliffe remarked during a practice that Richard skated like a rocket.  The Montreal press ate it up and the nickname stuck.
  16. Ken “The Rat” Linesman – perhaps the most fitting nickname on this entire list.
  17. Guy “The Flower” LaFleur – graceful style with hair a flowin in the 70’s and 80’s.  His last name means “The Flower” in French.
  18. Teemu “The Finnish Flash” Selanne – this quick skating rookie scored 76 goals as a rookie for the Winnipeg Jets
  19. Bashin” Bill Barilko – Toronto Maple Leaf made famous in a Tragically Hip song
  20. Pat “Little Ball of Hate” Verbeek – one of our favorite all-time nicknames, this moniker is fitting for the man that could generate both goals and penalty minutes.
  21. Curtis “Cujo“Joseph – nickname was established by simply taking the first two letters of his first name and first two of his last name.
  22. Yvon “The Roadrunner” Cournoyer – small and fast forward who won ten Stanley Cups with Les Canadiens.
  23. Derek “The Boogie Man” Boogaard – many were scared to go toe to toe with this enforcer.
  24. Nikolai “The Bulin Wall” Khabibulin – appropriate nickname for this Russian goaltender.
  25. Georges “The Chicoutimi Cucumber” Vezina – this goaltender earned this nickname based on the expression “cool as a cucumber.”
  26. Brett “The Golden Brett” Hull – his dad was the Golden Jet so the Golden Brett only made sense.
  27. Ken “Wolfman” Morrow – find a picture of this Isles defenseman from the early ’80’s and take note of his beard.
  28. David Backes – Inglorious Backes – St. Louis Blues forward.
  29. Little Joe” Pavelski – San Jose Sharks forward; one of the Cartwright boys?  Also known as the Big Pavelski.
  30. Jumbo” Joe Thornton – San Jose Sharks power forward.
  31. Mark “Moose” Messier – one of our all-time favorite players
  32. Eddie “The Eagle” Belfour – one of the many nicknames that this goalie from Carmen, Manitoba had
  33. Al “Radar” Arbour – former coach of the New York Islanders
  34. Pavel “The Russian Rocket” Bure – named after his swift speed and ability to make great plays at high speed.
  35. Dave “Tiger” Williams – all-time penalty minutes leader, “Tiger” was a fan favorite in Toronto and Vancouver.
  36. Alex “Great Eight” Ovechkin – the Great Eight speaks to Ovie’s number on the back of his jersey
  37. Todd “Big Bert” Bertuzzi – dubbed this from his days as a Vancouver Canuck
  38. Fred “The Fog” Shero – hall of fame coach of the Broadstreet Bullies
  39. Doug “Killer” Gilmour – dubbed “Killer” by teammate Brian Sutter for his fired up intensity while playing in St. Louis.
  40. Felix “The Cat” Potvin – cat-like reflexes maybe?
  41. Johnathan “Captain Serious” Toews – why so serious all of the time?
  42. Colin “Soupy” Campbell – Campbell Soup anyone?
  43. Jim “Net Detective” Carey – shares the same name with the actor who starred in Pet Detective.
  44. Sid “The Kid” Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguin extraordinare
  45. Steve “Stumpy” Thomas – not sure why he was called “Stumpy”.
  46. Igor “The Professor” Larionov -the man was a professor on the the ice and looks like one off the ice.
  47. Wendel “Captain Crunch” Clark – this Leafs captain was known to crunch opponents into the boards.
  48. Howie “The Stratford Streak” Morenz – after lighting up his midget league while playing in Stratford, Ontario
  49. Kevin “Vish” Lowe – dubbed during the defenseman’s time as an Edmonton Oiler
  50. Johan “Mule” Franzen – this Detroit forward played a rugged style and was dubbed “Mule” by teammates.
  51. Ron & Rich Sutter – Squeak and Squawk, the Sutter twins earned this nickname similar to Brent and Duane Sutter who had earned the nicknames Dog and Pup.
  52. Max “Dipsy-Doodle-Dandy” Bentley – former forward that played with the Leafs, Rangers and Black Hawks
  53. Dave “Sammy” Semenko – former Oilers tough guy as known as “Cementhead
  54. Dominik “The Dominator” Hasek – this guy dominated the nets for the Sabres and Black Hawks.
  55. Wayne “The Intimidator” Belak – great guy no longer with us.
  56. Carson “Shovel-Shot” Cooper
  57. Mariusz “The Polish Prince” Czerkawski
  58. Pavel “Houdini” Datsyuk
  59. Michel “Le Petit Tigre” Bergeron
  60. Andre “Red Light” Racicot
  61. Charlie “The Big Bomber” Conacher
  62. Glen “Slats” Sather
  63. Alex “Fats” Delvecchio
  64. Marcel Dionne – “Little Beaver
  65. Lucky” Luke Robitaille
  66. Super Mario” Lemieux
  67. Marc-Edouard Vlasic – “Pickles
  68. Eddie “The Edmonton Express” Shore
  69. Lionel “The Big Train” Conacher
  70. Gary Unger – “The Iron Man
  71. King” Henrik Lundqvist
  72. Rod “The Bod” Brind’Amour
  73. Wally ‘The Whirling Diversh” Stanowski
  74. Sami “The Finnish MacInnis” Salo
  75. Keith “Big Walt” Tkachuk
  76. Ryan “Captain Canada” Smyth
  77. Jamie “Noodles” McLennen
  78. Harry “Apple Cheeks” Lumley
  79. Clark “Jethro” Gillies
  80. Harvey “Busher” Jackson
  81. Ted “Teeder” Kennedy
  82. Rod “The Secretary of Defense” Langway
  83. Glen “Chico” Resch
  84. Jonas “The Monster“Gustavsson
  85. Black Jack” Stewart
  86. Aurel “Little Giant” Joliat
  87. Steven “Stammer” Stamkos
  88. Terrible” Ted Lindsay
  89. Eddie “The Entertainer” Shack
  90. Jason “Gator” Smith
  91. Tony “O” Esposito
  92. Al “Wild Thing” Iafrate
  93. Frank “The Big M” Mahovlich
  94. Andy “Peaches” Moog
  95. Jason “The Mayor” Pominville
  96. Burnaby” Joe Sakic
  97. Curtis “The Sandman” Sanford
  98. Lanny “Stache” McDonald
  99. Alf “The Embalmer” Pike
  100. Reggie “The Riverton Rifle” Leach

Of course there are more, but there are so many good ones to choose from.  Let us know if we missed any and we will update our list of top hockey nicknames with next year’s edition.