Each NHL team’s most memorable hockey name
By C.L. Kohuss
Los Angeles Kings: Kyosti Karjalainen
I may have found the first name of my yet-to-be son. How sick is “Kyosti?” It’s like a mad mash between super wolf and some mythical creature plucked from the yarns of time.
You could tell us this was the pet of Ares or Apollo and we’d believe it. Or an absolute beast forged in the studios of Stan Winston.
There’s only one honest clip of Kyosti Karjalainen on Youtube, which is pictured above. It’s as sweet as jelly, isn’t it?
There only being one highlight is mostly because he played 28 measly games total in the NHL, all with the Los Angeles Kings back in 1992. He did have a long career in the Swedish Elite League, though, playing for 14 seasons around stints in the bigs and the IHL.
We’re guessing they mostly kept him around because who doesn’t want a friend named Kyosti? In fact, how do we go about changing our own name to Kyosti? Is this a long court process or something we can do over a weekend?
By a quick search it also doesn’t appear that another hockey player by that name ever made it to the NHL. Until of course you all read this lovely article and start naming your kids Kyosti. We’ll see ya’ childrens on the ice in about 19 years.
Another quick search reveals that the name is actually a Finnish form of “Gustav.” Apparently. No idea how. Not even attempting to wrap the brain around that one.
Honorable mentions: Luc Robitaille, Steve Clippingdale (love it), Anze Kopitar, Robert Goring, Lonnie Loach, Zigmund Palffy and David Van Der Gulik