It’s back again! The complete list of verified (as much as possible, anyway) pronunciations for difficult-to-pronounce names in the NLL including players, coaches, executives, and media.

Thanks as always to Stephen Stamp for his help in verifying the pronunciations. Please let me know (in the comments, or hit me up on Twitter) if I got any wrong!

Names are organized alphabetically within teams.

Buffalo

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

Doug Buchan – BUCK-in

Josh Byrne – BURN

Chris Cloutier – CLOO-chay

Chase Fraser – FRAY-zer, not FRAY-zher

Matt Gilray – GILL-ray

Jon Harnett – har-NET

Marcus Minichiello – MIN-ih-kee-EL-o

Chukwuemeka Okaeme – CHOO-kuh-o-MEE-kuh o-KAY-me

Steve Priolo – pree-O-lo

Dhane Smith – DANE

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

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

Nick Weiss – WEES

Calgary

Reece Callies – REES CAL-ees

Christian del Bianco – dell bee-AN-ko

Dane Dobbie – DOUGH-bee. Not like Dobby.

Rhys Duch – REES DUTCH

Greg Harnett – har-NET

Zach Herreweyers – HAIR-wires (not HAY-wires as many say and as I had in previous years)

Anthony Kalinich – KAL-in-itch

Ryan Martel – mar-TELL

Eli Salama – sa-LA-ma

Colorado

Scott Carnegie – CAR-nuh-gee (hard g)

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

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

Dylan Kinnear – kih-NEER

Eli McLaughlin – E-lie muh-GLOCK-lin

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

Georgia

Alex Crepinsek – CREP-in-seck

Ryan MacSpadyen – mick-SPADGE-en

Kevin Orleman – OR-luh-min

Mike Poulin – POO-lin

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

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

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

Adam Wiedemann – WEED-uh-min

Halifax

James Barclay – BAR-klay

Ryan Benesch – buh-NESH

Chris Boushy – BOO-shee

Pete Dubenski – doo-BEN-skee

Eric Fannell – fuh-NELL

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

Graeme Hossack – GRAY-um HOSS-ick

Stephen Keogh – KEY-o. Not KEY-ho

Luc Magnan – LUKE MAG-nun

Clarke Petterson – PETE-er-sin

Trevor Smyth – like SMITH

Nonkon Thompson – NUN-go

Luke Van Schepen – van SHEP-en

New England

Mike Byrne – BURN

Nick Chaykowsky – chay-KOW-skee

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

Jordan Durston – DER-stun

Dave Emala – EM-a-la

Andrew Kew – Q

John LaFontaine – LA-fon-tane

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

Joe Nardella – nar-DELL-uh

Jackson Nishimura – ni-shi-MOOR-uh

Creighton Reid – CRAY-tun

Joe Resatarits – res-uh-TARE-its

New York

Gowah Abrams – GO-uh

Alex Buque – boo-KAY

Jean-Luc Chetner – ZHON-luke CHET-ner

Ryan Fournier – FOORN-yay

Dan Lomas – LOW-mus

Kieran McArdle – KEER-un muh-KAR-dl

Brooker Muir – MYOOR

Leland Powless – LEE-land

Cody Radziewicz – RAZ-a-witz

Philadelphia

Trevor Baptiste – bap-TEEST

Liam Byrnes – BURNS

Steph Charbonneau – STEFF char-buh-no. Since it’s French, the stress is sort of evenly placed throughout, or even char-buh-NO, but the Anglicized version is SHAR-buh-no.

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

Isaiah Davis-Allen – eye-ZAY-uh

Anthony Joaquim – JOKE-um

Kiel Matisz – KYLE muh-TEEZ

Blaze Riorden – REER-dun

Eric Shewell – SHOO-ull

Cory Vitarelli – vit-uh-REL-ee

Daryl Waud – WOD

Rochester

Phil Caputo – ka-POO-toe

Holden Cattoni – ka-TONE-ee

Julian Garritano – gar-uh-TAN-o

Tyler Gaulton – GOLL-ton

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

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

Dan Michel – MICK-ell. Like nickel but with an M

Pat Saunders – SAWN-ders. Not SAND-ers.

Jay Thorimbert – THOR-im-burt

Craig Wende – Like the name Wendy

San Diego

Oliver Bolsterli – BOWL-stir-lee

Mike Carnegie – CAR-nuh-gee (hard g)

Brandon Clelland – CLELL-and

Nick Damude – DAY-mood

Garrett Epple – EPP-il

Mark Glicini – gli-SEE-nee

Eli Gobrecht – GO-breckt

Connor Kearnan – KEER-nan

Tor Reinholdt – RINE-holt

Mikie Schlosser – SHLOS-er

Frank Scigliano – shill-ee-ANN-o

Austin Staats – STOTS

Saskatchewan

Chris Corbeil – cor-BEEL

Matt Hossack – HOSS-ick

Mike Messenger – MESS-in-jer

Kyle Rubisch – ROO-bish

Adam Shute – SHOOT

Toronto

Scott Dominey – DOM-in-ee

Latrell Harris – la-TREL

Billy Hostrawser – HO-straw-zer

Brad Kri – KREE

Reid Reinholdt – REED RINE-holt

Challen Rogers – CHA-lin

Tom Schreiber – SHRY-ber

Alec Tulett – tuh-LET (here’s proof)

Vancouver

Keegan Bal – BALL

Nik Bilic – BEE-leech according to Nik himself. Many people say bee-LEETCH which he’s apparently OK with. Not BILL-ick or BILL-itch.

Tyler Codron – COD-run

Riley Loewen – LOW-en

Joel McCready – muh-CREED-ee

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.

Bob Snider – SNY-der. Not SHNY-der.

Warriors – WOR-ee-ers. It’s a pet peeve of mine when people say it quickly enough that it sounds like WOYERS. Three syllables, people.

Coaches & Execs

Ed Comeau – kuh-MO. Swarm head coach.

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

Clem D’Orazio – duh-RAZZ-ee-o. Black Wolves 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-key. Wings assistant coach.

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

Dan Ladouceur – ladda-SIR. Assistant coach of the Swarm.

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

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

Kaleb Toth – KAY-leb TOE-th, not TAW-th. Former NLL player and coach. Hearing Toth’s name mispronounced on a broadcast (after a decade as a star in the league) was the inspiration for the very first pronunciation guide.

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

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 – noo 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 – Well, it’s complicated. I got in trouble a few years ago because I listed it as “sas-CATCH-uh-won” which is how I’ve been pronouncing it all my life, but apparently that’s wrong. The last syllable shouldn’t be “won”, and it shouldn’t really be “win” either. It should be “wən” where the ə symbol is a “schwa”, indicating an “unstressed and toneless central vowel sound”. Say it like there is no vowel there at all, like “sas-CATCH-uh-wn”. And some locals pronounce the first syllable as “sis” rather than “sas”, though I’d say the first vowel should also be a schwa. The end result is səs-CATCH-uh-wən.

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

Steve Bermel – BERM-ull. Rhymes with “thermal”. Bandits colour commentator.

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

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

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

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

Tyson Geick – GUYK. Like Geico without the o. Big Lacrosse Flash team guy.

Pat Gregoire – greg-WAHR. Thunderbirds colour guy and popular podcast guest.

Marisa Ingemi – muh-RISS-a in-JEM-ee. Boston Herald hockey reporter but used to write about lacrosse.

Devan Kaney – DEV-in KAY-nee. NLL content producer and host.

Adam Levi – LEE-vee. NLL and Lacrosse Flash contributor. Big team AND big stats guy.

Ty Merrow – MARE-o. Like bone marrow. Rhymes with Perrow, if that helps. Writer for the Georgia Swarm.

Tehoka Nanticoke: day-HO-ga NAN-ti-coke. No, he’s not an NLL player but he will be someday and if you follow lacrosse at all, you’ve likely heard his name.

Graeme Perrow – GRAY-um PAIR-o. It’s-a me!

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

Evan Schemenauer – SHEM-en-our. Lacrosse blogger over at laxallstars.com and 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.

It’s back and better than ever! The complete list of NLL people with weird, hard-to-pronounce, and not-that-hard-to-pronounce-but-people-get-it-wrong-anyway names, and how to say them properly. I’ve basically copied last year’s list, moved players to their new teams, added some rookies and players I missed, and added an entire paragraph on the word “Saskatchewan” which I’m sure some people will tell me is still wrong. I also added a few First Nations terms commonly heard in the lacrosse world.

Thanks again this year to Stephen Stamp for confirming these pronunciations. Stamper and I both confirmed many of these with the players themselves or their families, so thanks to them as well.

Names are organized alphabetically within teams.

Buffalo

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

Josh Byrne – BURN

Jordan Durston – DER-stun

Chase Fraser – FRAY-zer, not FRAY-zher

Matt Gilray – GILL-ray

Zach Herreweyers – HAIR-wires (not HAY-wires as many say and as I had in previous years)

Thomas Hoggarth – HO-garth

Steve Priolo – pree-O-lo

Dhane Smith – DANE

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

Mark Steenhuis – STAIN-house

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

Nick Weiss – WEES

Calgary

Chris Boushy – BOO-shee

Reece Callies – REES CAL-ees

Mike Carnegie – CAR-nuh-gee (hard g)

Christian del Bianco – dell bee-AHN-ko

Dane Dobbie – DOUGH-bee. Not like Dobby.

Rhys Duch – REES DUTCH. Frequently pronounced through sobs in Vancouver this year.

Greg Harnett – har-NET

Anthony Kalinich – KAL-in-itch. I had ka-LIN-itch last year, but that’s wrong.

Riley Loewen – LOW-en. LOW is like the word “low”, not rhyming with “cow”. Interesting aside: the original German pronunciation would be like “LER-ven” but without pronouncing the R (there’s no really good equivalent in English). Loewen is an alternate spelling of Löwen, the German word for “lions”.

Ryan Martel – mar-TELL

Eli Salama – sa-LA-ma

Colorado

Ryan Benesch – buh-NESH

Scott Carnegie – CAR-nuh-gee (hard g)

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

Julian Garritano – gar-uh-TAN-o

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

Stephen Keogh – KEY-o

Eli McLaughlin – E-lie muh-GLOCK-lin

Jacob Ruest – roo-EH where EH is pronounced like the e in “best”. Not roo-AY.

Dillon Ward – WOL

Georgia

Holden Cattoni – ka-TONE-ee

Alex Crepinsek – CREP-in-seck

Kevin Orleman – OR-luh-min

Mike Poulin – POO-lin

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

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

Jerome Thompson – Prefers to to be called Hiana, pronounced HY-nuh

Adam Wiedemann – WEED-uh-min

New England

Alex Buque – boo-KAY. However apparently when playing in junior, he pronounced it rhyming with “spook”.

Nick Chaykowsky – chay-KOW-skee

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

Dave Emala – EM-a-la

Ryan Fournier – FOORN-yay

John LaFontaine – LA-fon-tane

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

Jackson Nishimura – ni-shi-MOOR-uh

Philadelphia

Trevor Baptiste – bap-TEEST

Doug Buchan – BUCK-in

Liam Byrnes – BURNS

Steph Charbonneau – STEFF CHAR-buh-no

Chris Cloutier – CLOO-chay

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

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

Vaughn Harris – VON

Anthony Joaquim – JOKE-um, unlike teammate Joakim Miller

Chet Koneczny – kuh-NEKTS-nee. Direct from Chet: “connects-knee”

Kiel Matisz – KYLE muh-TEASE

Joakim Miller – YOKE-um, unlike teammate Anthony Joaquim

Adam Osika – o-SEE-kuh

Blaze Riorden – REER-dun

Eric Shewell – SHOO-ull

Rochester

James Barclay – BAR-klay

Eric Fannell – fuh-NELL

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

Graeme Hossack – GRAY-um HOSS-ick

Luc Magnan – LUKE MAG-nun

Greg Puskuldjian – pus-KOOL-jee-in. Thanks Connor Wilson

Joe Resetarits – res-uh-TARE-its

Pat Saunders – SAWN-ders. Not SAND-ers.

Luke Van Schepen – van SHEP-in

Cory Vitarelli – vit-uh-REL-ee

San Diego

Brandon Clelland – CLELL-and

Garrett Epple – EPP-il. Sounds like a South African saying “apple”.

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

Connor Kearnan – KEER-nin

Tor Reinholdt – RINE-holt

Mike Schlosser – SHLOS-er

Ethan Schott – SHOT

Frank Scigliano – shill-ee-ANN-o

Adrian Sorichetti – sore-i-KET-ee

Austin Staats – STOTS

Saskatchewan

Nik Bilic – BEE-leech according to Nik himself. Many people say bee-LEETCH which he’s apparently OK with. Not BILL-ick or BILL-itch.

Chris Corbeil – cor-BEEL

Nick Finlay – FIN-lee

Tyler Gaulton – GOLL-tun

Matt Hossack – HOSS-ick

Mike Messenger – MESS-in-jer

Brett Mydske – MID-skee

Kyle Rubisch – ROO-bish

Adam Shute – SHOOT. I love that there’s a goalie named SHOOT. Like former major league pitcher Bob Walk.

Saskatchewan – Well, it’s complicated. I got in trouble last year because I listed it as “sas-CATCH-uh-won” which is how I’ve been pronouncing it all my life, but apparently that’s wrong. The last syllable shouldn’t be “won”, and it shouldn’t really be “win” either. It should be “wən” where the ə symbol is a “schwa”, indicating an “unstressed and toneless central vowel sound”. Say it like there is no vowel there at all, like “sas-CATCH-uh-wn”. And some locals pronounce the first syllable as “sis” rather than “sas”, though I’d say the first vowel should also be a schwa. The end result is səs-CATCH-uh-wən. Or just say “the Rush” or do like Brian Shanahan and say “Saskatoon”.

Toronto

Phil Caputo – ka-POO-toe

Scott Dominey – DOM-in-ee

Latrell Harris – la-TREL

Billy Hostrawser – HO-straw-zer

Brad Kri – KREE

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

Kieran McArdle – KEER-un muh-KAR-dl

Creighton Reid – CRAY-ton REED

Challen Rogers – CHA-lin

Tom Schreiber – SHRY-ber

Jay Thorimbert – THOR-im-burt

Alec Tulett – TULL-it (not TOO-lit like I had before)

Vancouver

Keegan Bal – BALL

Jean-Luc Chetner – ZHON-luke CHET-ner

Tyler Codron – COD-run

Dan Lomas – LOW-mus

Joel McCready – muh-CREED-ee

Reid Mydske – MID-skee

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

James Rahe – RAY. Not RAY-EE or RAY-HE.

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

Warriors – WOR-ee-ers. It’s a pet peeve of mine when people say it quickly enough that it sounds like WOYERS. Three syllables, people.

Coaches & Execs

Ed Comeau – ko-MO. Swarm head coach. I’ve had this as KO-mo for years but apparently that’s wrong.

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

Clem D’Orazio – duh-RAZZ-ee-o. Black Wolves 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-key. In the past I’ve included that kuh-LOOS-key is wrong, but apparently Tracey himself doesn’t care how you say it. Wings assistant coach.

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

Dan Ladouceur – ladda-SIR. Assistant coach of the Swarm.

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

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

Kaleb Toth – KAY-leb TOE-th, not TAW-th. Former NLL player and coach. Hearing Toth’s name mispronounced on a broadcast (after a decade as a star in the league) was the inspiration for the very first pronunciation guide.

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.

Other

Steve Bermel – BERM-ull. Rhymes with “thermal”. IL Indoor writer and occasional Bandits colour commentator.

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

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.

Tyson Geick – GUYK. Like Geico without the o. Former NLL host. Big team guy.

Pat Gregoire – greg-WAHR. Alternate pronunciation: SMO-kin PAT. IL Indoor writer.

Marisa Ingemi – muh-RISS-a in-JEM-ee. Boston Herald hockey reporter. Did you know: she used to be a lacrosse player writer!

Tehoka Nanticoke: day-HO-ga NAN-ti-coke. No, he’s not an NLL player but he will be someday and if you follow lacrosse at all, you’ve likely heard his name.

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

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

Evan Schemenauer – SHEM-en-our. Lacrosse blogger over at laxallstars.com and 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.

When recording the Addicted to Lacrosse podcast, we recently changed from using YouTube Live to a service called UberConference. It allows us to set up conference calls but we can use our computer (à la Skype) or a regular phone to join the call, and then we can download an MP3 (assuming one actually clicks the “record” button before we start…) immediately after we’re done. This is much easier than waiting for YouTube to process the video, downloading the multi-hundred megabyte video mp4 file, and then extracting the audio from it. It also has the advantage of not being a video chat, so I don’t have to worry about cleaning up my office before we record. We usually start recording around 10pm EST but if we’re starting late, I can record in my pyjamas – and I have. The downside of not having video is that you don’t see which current or classic NLL jerseys we’re wearing and we won’t get any more cameos from Tyler’s cat, though we did have Melissa’s dogs make an audio appearance in one show.

Continue reading →

Here it is! The article I write every year that usually generates the most discussion. It’s something that some NLL announcers don’t need at all, others use regularly, and still others desperately need but don’t know about. It’s also possible that some in that third group think they’re in the first group. Sigh.

Special thanks to Stephen Stamp (squarely in that first group) who looked over the list to make sure I had them all right.

Names are organized alphabetically within teams.

Buffalo

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

Alex Buque – boo-KAY. However apparently when playing in junior, he pronounced it rhyming with “spook”.

Josh Byrne – BURN

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

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

Jordan Durston – DER-stun

Chase Fraser – FRAY-zer, not like Frasier

Vaughn Harris – VON

Zach Herreweyers – HAIR-wires (not HAY-wires as many say)

Steve Priolo – pree-O-lo

Pat Saunders – SAWN-ders. Not SAND-ers.

Ethan Schott – SHOT

Dhane Smith – DANE

Mark Steenhuis – STAIN-house

Nick Weiss – WEES

Calgary

Mike Carnegie – CAR-nuh-gee (hard g)

Holden Cattoni – ka-TONE-ee

Christian del Bianco – dell bee-AHN-ko

Dane Dobbie – DOUGH-bee. Not like Dobby.

Greg Harnett – har-NET

Anthony Kalinich – ka-LIN-itch

Riley Loewen – LOW-en. LOW is like the word “low”, not rhyming with “cow”. Interesting aside: the original German pronunciation would be like “LER-ven” but without pronouncing the R (there’s no really good equivalent in English). Loewen is an alternate spelling of Löwen, the German word for “lions”.

Ryan Martel – mar-TELL

Creighton Reid – CRAY-ton REED

Frank Scigliano – shill-ee-ANN-o

Colorado

Ryan Benesch – buh-NESH

Scott Carnegie – CAR-nuh-gee (hard g)

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

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

Stephen Keogh – KEY-o

Eli McLaughlin – E-lie muh-GLOCK-lin

Nick Ossello – aw-SELL-o

Jacob Ruest – roo-EH

Georgia

Frank Brown – I’ll have to look this one up and get back to you.

Alex Crepinsek – CREP-in-seck

Kiel Matisz – KYLE muh-TEES

Mike Poulin – POO-lin

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

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

Jerome Thompson – Prefers to to be called Hiana, pronounced HY-nuh

Zed Williams – ZED. In the US, it’s pronounced ZEE.

New England

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

Anthony Joaquim – JOKE-um. Looks like wa-KEEM but it’s not. No joke.

John LaFontaine – LA-fon-TANE

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

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

Jay Thorimbert – THOR-im-burt

Rochester

Eric Fannell – fuh-NELL

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

Graeme Hossack – GRAY-um HOSS-ack

Luc Magnan – LUKE MAG-nun

Joe Resetarits – res-uh-TARE-its

Eric Shewell – SHOO-ull

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

Cory Vitarelli – vit-uh-REL-ee

Saskatchewan

Nik Bilic – BEE-leech according to Nik himself (via Stephen Stamp and Brian Shanahan). Definitely not BIL-ik and it sounds like BILL-itch is also wrong.

Chris Corbeil – cor-BEEL

Nick Finlay – FIN-lee

Mike Messenger – MESS-in-jer. I left him off the list last year because it should be obvious, but I’ve heard somebody say MESS-in-ger with a hard g. I get that the pronunciation of some of these names is difficult – that’s why this list exists. But when the name is also a valid (and not obscure) English word, it really shouldn’t need to be here.

Brett Mydske – MID-skee

Tor Reinholdt – RINE-holt

Kyle Rubisch – ROO-bish

Adrian Sorichetti – sore-i-KET-ee

Toronto

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.

Billy Hostrawser – HO-straw-zer

Brad Kri – KREE

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

Challen Rogers – CHA-lin

Tom Schreiber – SHRY-ber

Vancouver

Tye Belanger – buh-LAHN-jay

Brandon Clelland – CLELL-and

Rhys Duch – REES DUTCH

Ryan Fournier – FOORN-yay

Thomas Hoggarth – HOE-garth

Joel McCready – muh-CREED-ee

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.

Cody Teichroeb – TYKE-robe

Coaches & Execs

Aime Caines – AMY CANES.  Former Swarm player and assistant coach.

Ed Comeau – ko-MO. Swarm head coach. I’ve had this as KO-mo for years but apparently that’s wrong.

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

Clem D’Orazio – duh-RAZZ-ee-o. Black Wolves 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-key. In the past I’ve included that kuh-LOOS-key is wrong, but apparently Tracey himself doesn’t care how you say it. Black Wolves assistant coach.

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

Dan Ladouceur – ladda-SIR. Assistant coach of the Swarm.

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

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

Kaleb Toth – KAY-leb TOE-th, not TAW-th. Former NLL player and coach. Hearing Toth’s name mispronounced on a broadcast (after a decade as a star in the league) was the inspiration for the very first pronunciation guide.

Other

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

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

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 like Frasier. Rush play by play guy.

Tyson Geick – GUYK. Rhymes with TYKE. Like Geico without the o. NLL host and video guy.

Pat Gregoire – greg-WAHR. IL Indoor writer, NLL ReLax host, and NLL TV broadcaster.

Marisa Ingemi – muh-RISS-a in-JEM-ee. Journalist covering every sport in the world and breaker of NLL news.

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

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

Saskatchewan – I’ve always said it as sas-CATCH-oo-on but I’ve heard from Saskatchewanians (is that a word?) that it should be sas-CATCH-a-win or sas-CATCH-a-wen – the last syllable does not rhyme with “on”. The best description of this came from @SaskRushFans on Twitter: “There are definitely several variations that are acceptable, but pronouncing Saskatchewan as spelled is not one of them.” Many shorten it to “s-CATCH-a-win” just as Torontonians say “Tronna”.

Saskatoon – sas-ka-TOON. City in which the Rush play.

Evan Schemenauer – SHEM-en-our. Lacrosse blogger over at evanschemenauer.blogspot.ca (and now at laxallstars.com)

Stephen Stamp – STEE-ven. STAMP-er is also acceptable. IL Indoor writer and editor, podcaster, play-by-play guy.

NLL training camps will be starting in a month or so. This is the chance for the young players to strut their stuff and get noticed, the veteran players to get back into the swing of things after some time off (a month or so if they played in MLS/WLA/MLL, as many as six months if they didn’t), and the oldest players to see if they have just one more year left in their aching bodies.

During the camps, one thing you may hear about is the beep test. I had never heard of this until a couple of years ago, when numerous players being interviewed on various lacrosse podcasts kept talking about it. It turns out my sons had both done it a few times during their phys ed classes. If you are as unfamiliar with this as I was, allow me to enlighten you.

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