I wrote this article the first time as a bit of a joke, because I got annoyed hearing NLL players’ names being mispronounced by play-by-play guys all the time. Then it kept happening with new players, so I’ve written a new version every year since. I sometimes think maybe the situation is getting better, evidenced by the fact that I didn’t feel compelled to write this article quite as much this year as in previous years. But then the other day I heard the New England announcers say Joey Cupido’s last name as KOO-pid-o and then discuss how it should be pronounced, decide (correctly) on koo-PEE-do, and then proceed to say it wrong the rest of the game. So here we are.

Names are organized alphabetically within teams.

Buffalo

Ryan Benesch – buh-NESH

Bryce Brochu – BRO-shoe

Kevin Brownell – brow-NELL. brow rhymes with “cow”.

Davide DiRuscio – DAY-vid dih-ROOSH-ee-o

Alexander Kedoh Hill – Kedoh sounds like KID-o

Steve Priolo – pree-O-lo

Blaze Riorden – REER-dun

Dhane Smith – DANE

Mark Steenhuis – STAIN-house

Nick Weiss – WEES

 

Calgary

Holden Cattoni – ka-TONE-ee

Christian del Bianco – dell bee-AHN-ko

Dane Dobbie – DOUGH-bee. Not like Dobby.

Greg Harnett – har-NET

Jon Harnett – coincidentally, also har-NET

Karsen Leung – lee-UNG

Riley Loewen – LOW-en. LOW is like the word “low”, not rhyming with “cow”.

Tor Reinholdt – RINE-holt

Frank Scigliano – shill-ee-ANN-o. And it’s Frank now, not Frankie.

 

Colorado

Keegan Bal – KEE-gan BALL

Alexis Buque – boo-KAY

Callum Crawford – CAL-um. Not CAY-lum.

Joey Cupido – koo-PEE-do. Not KYOO-pid-o or KOO-pid-o

Ilija Gajic – ILL-ee-ya GUY-ch

Jordan Gilles – GILL-ess. Not the same as Brad Gillies on Rochester.

Zach Herreweyers – HAY-wires. I know, right?

Stephen Keogh – KEY-o

Eli McLaughlin – E-lie muh-GLOCK-lin

Nick Ossello – aw-SELL-o

Creighton Reid – CRAY-ton

Jacob Ruest – roo-EH (or if you’re Canadian, it’s roo, eh?)

 

Georgia

Mitch Belisle – buh-LYLE

Alex Crepinsek – CREP-in-seck

Kiel Matisz – KYLE muh-TEEZ

Mike Poulin – POO-lin

Randy Staats – STOTS. Rhymes with “slots”. Not STATS.

Leo Stouros – STORE-os

 

New England

Kevin Crowley – KROW-lee. Not like the bird. KROW rhymes with “cow”.

Ryan Hotaling – ho-TAL-ing

Derek Searle – SERL. Rhymes with pearl.

Jay Thorimbert – THOR-im-burt. I would have guessed THOR-im-bare (and had it that way on this list in previous years) but that’s wrong.

 

Rochester

Tyler Ferreira – fur-AIR-uh

Brad Gillies – GILL-ees. Not the same as Jordan Gilles on Colorado.

Graeme Hossack – HOSS-ack. I’m only listing his last name because you all know how to say his first name, right? RIGHT? OK fine, it’s GRAY-um.

Luc Magnan – LUKE MAG-nun. I would have expected man-YON but I’ve never heard it pronounced that way.

Joe Resetarits – res-uh-TARE-its

Matt Vinc – like the name “Vince”. Not VINK.

Cory Vitarelli – vit-uh-REL-ee

 

Saskatchewan

Nik Bilic – bee-LEETCH but many people say BIL-itch. Definitely not BIL-ik.

Chris Corbeil – cor-BEEL

Brett Mydske – MID-skee

Kyle Rubisch – ROO-bish

Adrian Sorichetti – sore-i-KET-ee

 

Toronto

Kasey Beirnes – BEERns. Not BEER-ness and not BURNS.

Phil Caputo – ka-POO-toe

Latrell Harris – la-TREL. If you’re the ACC announcer, stretch it out so that it takes you 15 seconds to say Latrell.

Rob Hellyer – HELL-yer

Billy Hostrawser – HO-straw-zer

Bradley Kri – KREE

Stephan Leblanc – STEFF-in luh-BLONK. Not steh-FAWN and not luh-BLANK.

Dan Lintner – LINT-ner. There are two N’s in there, not LINT-er or LIT-ner.

Kieran McArdle – KEER-un muh-KAR-dl

Reid Reinholdt – REED RINE-holt

Tom Schreiber – SHRY-ber. I’d be surprised if anyone reading this can’t pronounce this name, considering how often his name has been mentioned this season among NLL folks.

 

Vancouver

Tye Belanger – buh-LAHN-jay

Brandon Clelland – CLELL-and

Rhys Duch – REES DUTCH

Thomas Hoggarth – HOE-garth

Chris O’Dougherty – O DORT-ee. Or O DOUGH-erty if you say it slowly.

James Rahe – RAY

Logan Schuss – SHUSS (rhymes with BUS). Not SHUSH, SHOOSH, or SHOOS.

 

Coaches & Execs

Aime Caines – AMY CANES.  Swarm assistant coach.

Ed Comeau – KO-mo. Swarm head coach.

Jamie Dawick – DOW-ick. DOW rhymes with “cow”. Owner & GM of the Rock.

Steve Govett – GUV-it. President & GM of the Mammoth.

Mike Hasen – HAY-zen. Not HAN-sen. Knighthawks head coach.

Tracey Kelusky – kuh-LUSS-key. Not kuh-LOOS-key. Black Wolves assistant coach.

Darris Kilgour – DARE-iss KILL-gore. Not DARE-ee-us. Former Bandits coach/GM.

Curt Malawsky – muh-LAW-skee. Roughnecks head coach.

Nick Sakiewicz – sic-KEV-itch. NLL commish.

Kaleb Toth – KAY-leb TOE-th, not TAW-th. Stealth assistant coach.

 

Other

Steve Bermel – BERM-ull. Rhymes with “thermal”. Bandits beat writer.

Melissa Dafni – DAF-nee. One of my co-hosts on Addicted to Lacrosse.

Tyler Fitch – TY-ler FITCH. My other co-host on Addicted to Lacrosse.

John Fraser – FRAY-zer. Not FRAY-zher (i.e. not pronounced like the TV show Frasier). Rush play by play dude.

Casey Guerin – GARE-in. Rush broadcaster.

Marisa Ingemi – muh-RISS-a in-JEM-ee. In Lacrosse We Trust writer.

Graeme Perrow – GRAY-um PAIR-o. Yours truly.

Craig Rybczynski – He told me it’s rib-CHIN-skee but he himself frequently says it as “rib-ZIN-skee”. Knighthawks broadcaster.