Look at my name. Just look at it. If you were to see “Graeme Perrow” for the first time, how would you pronounce it? GRAM-ee puh-ROW? That’s probably the most common one I get, but unless I’m in Scotland or talking to someone who is Scottish, people almost never get it right. I’ve been used to it my whole life. So back in 2011 when I was watching a Calgary Roughnecks game and the announcer talked about KAY-leb TAWth, who had already been a star in the league for a decade, I got frustrated. I decided to write an article listing all of the difficult-to-say names in the NLL and how to say them properly.

It began somewhat as a joke (I included 6’10” David Morgan, with the name pronunciation as “look-at-the-SIZE-of-that-guy”) but as it gained steam over the years, I added more and more players and even started to contact them to make sure I had it right. Eventually I added some NLL coaches and execs, broadcasters and writers, a few First Nations terms that come up often, place names, and this year I decided that officials deserve the respect of having their names pronounced correctly too. A few years ago, Stephen Stamp (who knows far more lacrosse players personally than I do) gave me some suggestions and corrections, and now I send the article through him every year before publishing it.

Whether you talk to these guys personally, or talk about them on your lacrosse podcast, or you’re a professional NLL broadcaster, or you are just interested, I hope this is helpful.

Update: The list is now available in HTML format online. You can even pick an upcoming game and see (or print) a single page containing just the names on those teams. I will likely not be updating this article going forward, but that list will be updated as new players join the league, trades or retirements happen, or stuff like that.

Once again, hit me up on Twitter if I’ve gotten anything wrong. And huge thanks to Stephen Stamp for his help in getting all of these right.

Names are organized alphabetically within teams.

Albany

Mike Byrne – BURN

Nick Chaykowsky – chay-KOW-skee

Aaron Forster – FOR-stir. Not Foster.

Justin Geddie – GEDDY

Doug Jamieson – JAME-uh-sun

Patrick Kaschalk – KAS-chok

John LaFontaine – LA-fon-tane

Kieran McArdle – KEER-un muh-KAR-dl

Joe Nardella – nar-DELL-uh

Jackson Nishimura – ni-shi-MER-uh. MER rhymes with the word burr.

John Piatelli – pee-uh-TELL-ee

Leo Stouros – STIR-us. According to Leo, it “rhymes with thermos”.

Zac Tucci – TOO-chee

Thomas Vaesen – VICE-in

Buffalo

Kyle Buchanan – byoo-KAN-in

Josh Byrne – BURN

Chris Cloutier – CLOO-chay

Nathaniel Kozevnikov – kuz-EV-nuh-kov

Brad McCulley – muh-KULL-ee

Tehoka Nanticoke – day-HO-ga NAN-ti-coke

Steve Priolo – pree-O-lo

Dhane Smith – DANE

Matt Spanger – SPANG-er. Like hanger but with an SP instead.

Dalton Sulver – SULL-ver

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

Nick Weiss – WEES

Calgary

Reece Callies – REES CAL-ees

Christian del Bianco – dell bee-ANG-ko. I hear “del bee-ONG-ko” a lot, but the a is a short A, not an O.

Zach Herreweyers – HAIR-wires

Harrison Matsuoka – mat-soo-O-kuh

Eli Salama – sa-LA-ma (pictured at right)

Ethan Ticehurst – TYSE-herst

Seth Van Schepen – van SHEP-in

Colorado

Jalen Chaster – JAY-len CHAS-ter

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

Rhys Duch – REES DUTCH

Nate Faccin – fuh-SEEN

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

Anthony Joaquim – JOKE-um

Dylan Kinnear – kuh-NEER

Noah Lebar – luh-BAR

Brett McIntyre – MAC-in-tire

Eli McLaughlin – E-lie muh-GLOCK-lin

Georgia

Brett Beetow – BEE-toe

Will Cecile – suh-SEEL

TJ Comizio – kuh-MIZ-ee-o

Andrew Kew – Q

Ryan MacSpadyen – mick-SPADGE-en

Teioshontathe McComber – day-o-shon-dah-day muh-COMB-er. The b in COMB is not silent.

Kasen Tarbell – KAY-sen. Like Jason, but with a K.

Craig Wende – Like the name Wendy

Adam Wiedemann – WEED-uh-min

Halifax

Ryan Benesch – buh-NESH

Chris Boushy – BOO-shee

Wake:Riat Bowhunter – wah-GAY-lee-at. But he’s fine with Bo.

Eric Fannell – fuh-NELL

Graeme Hossack – GRAY-um HOSS-ick

Drew Hutchison – HUTCH-ih-sun. Not HUTCH-in-sun.

Cody Jamieson – JAME-uh-sun

Luc Magnan – LUKE MAG-nun

Clarke Petterson – PEET-er-sun

Trevor Smyth – like SMITH

Randy Staats – STOTS

Ryan Terefenko – tare-uh-FENK-o

Dawson Theede – THEED

Las Vegas

Charlie Bertrand – BER-trand

Brandon Clelland – CLELL-and

Nick Ellerton – ELL-er-tun

Connor Kirst – KERST

Reid Reinholdt – REED RINE-holt

Tor Reinholdt – RINE-holt

Jacob Ruest – His mom says roo-EH where EH is pronounced like the e in “best”. Jacob says roo-AY is fine.

Jackson Suboch – SOO-bock

New York

Andrew Borgatti – bor-GA-tee

Kevin Brownell – brow-NELL. brow rhymes with “cow”. Not BROWN-ull.

Scott Dominey – DOM-in-ee. DOM rhymes with bomb.

Mason Kamminga – kuh-MING-ga

Connor Kearnan – KEER-nan

Dan Lomas – LOW-mus

Matt Marinier – ma-RIN-yay

Kevin Orleman – OR-luh-min

Steve Orleman – OR-luh-min

Jeff Teat – TEET

Jay Thorimbert – THOR-im-burt

OR-luh-mins

Panther City

Liam Byrnes – BURNS

Phil Caputo – ka-POO-toe

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

Nick Damude – DAY-mood

Dean Fairall – FAIR-ul

Mathieu Gautier – GOAT-yay

Nathan Grenon – GREH-nun

Matt Hossack – HOSS-ick

Dylan Hutchison – HUTCH-ih-sun. Not HUTCH-in-sun.

Cam MacLeod – muh-CLOUD

Josh Medeiros – muh-DEER-os

Brooker Muir – MYOOR

Ronin Pusch – ROW-nin PUSH

Cameron Wengreniuk – wen-GREN-ee-uk

Philadelphia

Trevor Baptiste – bap-TEEST

Taite Cattoni – TATE ka-TONE-ee

Alex Crepinsek – CREP-in-seck

Isaiah Davis-Allen – eye-ZAY-uh

Hunter Lemieux – luh-MYUH is pretty close

Kiel Matisz – KYLE muh-TEEZ

Marcus Minichiello – MIN-ih-kee-EL-o

Joe Resatarits – res-uh-TARE-its

Blaze Riorden – REER-dun

Eric Shewell – SHOO-ull

Rochester

Holden Cattoni – ka-TONE-ee

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

Rylan Hartley – RY-lin. There’s an L in there. It’s not Ryan.

Austin Hasen – HAY-zin

Thomas Hoggarth – HOE-garth

Ryland Rees – RY-land

Curtis Romanchych – ROW-man-chuk

Jordan Stouros – STIR-us

Jordan Trottier – TROT-yay

Thomas Vela – VEL-ah

Jeff Wittig – WIT-ig

San Diego

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

Dane Dobbie – DOUGH-bee. Not like Dobby.

Eli Gobrecht – GO-brekt

Jake Govett – GUV-it

Tre Leclaire – TRAY luh-CLARE

Christopher Origlieri – o-RIG-lee-AIR-ee

Frank Scigliano – shill-ee-ANN-o

Patrick Shoemay – SHOO-may

Austin Staats – STOTS

Saskatchewan

Jake Boudreau – boo-DRO

Alex Buque – boo-KAY

Wyatt Haux – HOW-ks

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

Austin Madronic – muh-DRAWN-ik

Mike Messenger – MESS-in-jer

Isaac Ngyou – EN-joo

Kyle Rubisch – ROO-bish

Jeremy Searle – SERL. Rhymes with pearl.

Toronto

Chris Corbeil – cor-BEEL

Josh Dawick – DOW-ick. DOW rhymes with “cow”.

Latrell Harris – la-TREL

Troy Holowchuk – HOLL-o-chuck

Billy Hostrawser – HO-straw-zer

TD Ierlan – ER-lin. ER rhymes with HER

Josh Jubenville – JOO-bun-vil

Stephen Keogh – KEY-o. Not KEY-ho

Brad Kri – KREE

Phil Mazzuca – muh-ZOO-kuh

Challen Rogers – CHA-lin

Tom Schreiber – SHRY-ber

Chris Weier – WEER

Vancouver

Keegan Bal – BALL

Reid Bowering – REED BOW-er-ing. BOW rhymes with “cow”.

Adam Charalambides – shar-lum-BEED-eez

Steph Charbonneau – STEFF shar-buh-no

Tyler Codron – COD-run

Matt Delmonico – del-MON-ih-ko

Jonathan Gagliardi – gag-lee-AR-dee

Tyrell Hamer-Jackson – HAY-mer

Anthony Kalinich – KAL-in-itch

Riley Loewen – LOW-en

Ryan Martel – mar-TELL

Jacob Motiuk – MO-tee-uk

Brett Mydske – MET-skee. I usually say (and hear) MID-skee but I got “MET” straight from Brett a few years ago.

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

Warriors – WOR-ee-ers. Not WOYERS.

Coaches & Execs

Mike Accursi – uh-CURS-ee. Thunderbirds head coach.

Ed Comeau – kuh-MO. Not KO-mo and definitely not KWO-mo. Swarm head coach.

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

Clem D’Orazio – duh-RAZZ-ee-o. FireWolves assistant coach.

Steve Govett – GUV-it. President of the San Diego Seals.

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

Tracey Kelusky – kuh-LUSS-kee. Panther City head coach.

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

Dan Ladouceur – la-due-sir. Since it’s French, there’s (kind of) no accent on any syllable but if you must, it would be la-due-SIR. Riptide head coach.

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

Dwight Maetche – MET-kee. Warriors assistant coach.

John Tavares – tuh-VAR-ez. Buffalo coach and legend.

Officials

Todd Labranche – luh-BRANCH

Shawn Grenier – GREN-yay

Mark Gardonio – gar-DOUGH-nee-o

Justin Kitashima – kit-uh-SHEE-ma

Brent Coulombe – coo-LOW-m

Andrew Ecclestone – EK-el-stone

Jon van der Giessen – VAN der gees-en

First Nations terms

Haudenosaunee – HO-dun-uh-SHO-nee. The collective name for the people belonging to the Six Nations: Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora.

Iroquois – In Canada it’s EAR-uh-kwa, in the US it’s EAR-uh-kwoy. Another name for the Haudenosaunee people.

Tewaarton – tuh-WAHR-tun. The Mohawk name for the sport of lacrosse and the name of the award given annually to the top American college lacrosse player.

Place names

Calgary – CAL-guh-ree or CAL-gree. The “gary” part is not pronounced like the name Gary.

Coquitlam – ko-KWIT-lum. Town in greater Vancouver, BC, home to lots of NLL players. Note that Port Coquitlam (aka Poco) is nearby but is a different town.

New Westminster – west-MIN-ster. Often shortened to just New West. Note that it’s not MIN-is-ter – there is only one i. Also part of the greater Vancouver area and also home to lots of NLL players.

Saskatchewan – səs-CATCH-uh-wən. For more details, see the 2020 version of the guide.

Saskatoon – sas-ka-TOON. The emphasis in the word Saskatchewan is on the second syllable while in the word Saskatoon it’s on the third.

Toronto – tor-ON-toe. Or TRON-uh if you’re a Torontonian.

Other

Brad Challoner – CHALL-ah-ner. Brad says it’s like “challenger” without the g. Warriors and TSN broadcaster.

Pete Dalliday – DAL-i-day. Thunderbirds play-by-play guy.

Tino Fera – TEE-no FAIR-uh. Lacrosse Flash and Lacrosse Classified podcaster.

Tyson Geick – GUYK. Like Geico without the o. Big Lacrosse Flash team guy and Riptide media dude.

Pat Gregoire – greg-WAHR. Thunderbirds and TSN colour guy and Off The Crossebar podcast co-host.

Marisa Ingemi – muh-RISS-a in-JEM-ee. Hockey and women’s sports reporter in San Francisco but got her start writing about lacrosse. Still up for a good goalie fight.

Andy Lindahl – LIN-doll. Mammoth play-by-play guy.

Adam Levi – LEE-vee. NLL, NLLPA, and Lacrosse Flash writer and podcaster. Big team AND big stats guy.

Ty Merrow – MARE-o. Like bone marrow. Rhymes with Perrow. NLL and Lacrosse Flash writer and also big stats guy.

Nick Ossello – uh-SELL-o. Seals broadcaster and the self-proclaimed toughest guy in whatever town he happens to be in.

Graeme Perrow – GRAY-um PAIR-o. Your humble servant. Rhymes with Merrow.

Craig Rybczynski – rib-CHIN-skee but apparently “rib-ZIN-skee” is acceptable. Knighthawks broadcaster.

Evan Schemenauer – SHEM-en-our. Lacrosse Flash writer and former co-host of the Lacrosse Classified podcast.

Stephen Stamp – STEE-ven. STAMP-er is also acceptable. IL Indoor writer and editor, podcaster, name pronunciation verifier.

Paul Tutka – TOOT-ka is the Ukrainian pronunciation, but Paul says TUT-ka works too. Writer for The Lax Mag.

Former players

These come up in conversations now and again, and I still hear some pronounced incorrectly.

Nik Bilic – bee-LEECH

Creighton Reid – CRAY-tun

Bob or Geoff Snider – SNY-der. not SHNY-der

Mark Steenhuis – STAIN-house

Kaleb Toth – KAY-lub TOE-th. Not TAWth.