Calgary Flames: Jyrki Jokipakka
There have been some wonderfully fascinating names to come and go through the Calgary Flames system. We were so close to going with Swedish-great Hakan Loob, then totally wanted to settle on Nevin Markwart for this fight alone. There was also Joe Nieuwendyk
That’s what happens when two kids grab a hold of the Rock ’Em Sock ’Em robots and start mashing buttons. Ultimately, I could not pass up the chance to tell a story about Jyrki Jokipakka. It’s one we’ve all been through, whether we want to admit it or not.
After being drafted by the Dallas Stars in 2011, Jokipakka finally got the call up to the NHL in early 2014. The only problem? About 10 games into his stint, his teammates had had enough of trying to pronounce his name. I mean, they were so over it.
Jokipakka himself didn’t even like spelling it or trying to teach it anyone else (and my spellcheck is having an aneurysm right now), which culminated in a Starbucks fiasco where he decided to just go ahead and call himself Kevin for the sake of not shouting a bunch of random letters at some poor barista in a crowded café.
His fellow players loved it, for obvious reasons. You think that changed when he was traded to the Calgary Flames? Hell no. This dude is Kevin everywhere now. We imagine he must be sick of it at this point, especially if he has to go home to Finland and hear it from his actual family.
Honorable mentions: Hnat Domenichelli, Earl Ingarfield, Adrian Aucoin, Jay Bouwmeester, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (wow), Rob & John Ramage and Pekka Rautakallio
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