In hockey, nicknames for players are commonplace. Whether it’s just an easier way to call someone’s name or there’s a funny story behind it, nicknames bring teammates closer together.
That’s no different for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Players have common nicknames that they are affectionately known by both their teammates and the fans. For example, most everyone knows that Zach Werenski is called “Z” and Adam Fantilli is called “Mo.”
Today, we decided to do something a little different. We went around the locker room to a few different players and asked them a question. What is the weirdest nickname that anyone has ever called them either now or in the past and is there a quick story behind it?
The purpose of this is to try to show a different, funny side to them. While a couple guys admitted they haven’t had a weird nickname thrown their way, some very interesting responses came from this. Then at the end as a bonus, you will see weird nicknames of the Blue Jackets’ beat writers Aaron Portzline, Brian Hedger and then yours truly.
Sit back, enjoy and prepare to laugh at some of these nicknames.
Weird Nicknames Revealed
Sean Kuraly – “Nightmare”
Kuraly: “What do you call something that’s the opposite of what it means?”
Me: “An oxymoron?”
Kuraly: “Yeah! So I had my first fight in juniors. And it didn’t go very well. And they started calling me nightmare. I think I got beat up pretty good. One of the Russians, Daniil Tarasov is his name, not this one. He started calling me “Sean Nightmare Kuraly.”
You can in fact view the Elite Prospects profile of that Daniil Tarasov here. It’s a small world, after all.
Jet Greaves – “Cheddar Bob”
Greaves: “Cheddar Bob! So that’s probably the most random one. And it’s from 8 Mile. There’s another buddy who I played with he called me Cheddar Bob all the time. That is one I don’t know where that one came from.”
Anyone who has seen the movie knows that “Cheddar Bob” is goofy but also is remembered for his heart and loyalty in his character. Greaves very much fits that description.
Mathieu Olivier – “The Biloxi Bull”
Olivier: “In Nashville, the television staff, Chris Mason, Willy Daunic. They nicknamed me the Biloxi Bull. Because I was born in Biloxi and the way I played so that kind of stuck. And then our line was Yakov Trenin and Colton Sissons at the start. Yakov was the Yak and Colton was the Colts so we became the Herd Line. And that was fun. But I mean, (Werenski) has about six different nicknames for me. I can’t even start to go over all of that.”
Oh yes we can, Mathieu. Yes we can.
According to Werenski, Olivier is known as both “I train hockey” and “I train Driscoll”. These apparently are Fantasy Football team names. Stay tuned later in the season as we will have a feature on the Blue Jackets’ Fantasy Football League. Speaking of Werenski…
Zach Werenski – “Ted Yasso”
Most everyone knows who Ted Lasso is. But we have a “Ted Yasso” on our hands. Yasso are the Greek Yogurt bars you can find in the frozen section of the grocery store. Let’s just say Werenski got the team hooked on the bars.
“I kind of got everyone on them because we all have a sweet tooth. I was pretty much saying it’s a great replacement for sweets. It still has some sugar in it. So (Olivier) started calling me Ted Yasso which is good.”
As a bonus, some of his teammates called Werenski “snowman.” He does wear jersey number 8 after all. Snowman. Fantilli once told Werenski “Hope you have a good game, snowman.”
Adam Fantilli – “Hot Dogs”
In response to “snowman”, Werenski would wish Fantilli good luck as well. “Good luck out there, hot dogs.” Before his number change, Fantilli wore 11. Hence hot dogs.
But even with the change to 19, Werenski still calls Fantilli “hot dogs.” It appears this will stick with him now.
Jordan Harris – “Huncho”
Harris: “In high school, just because we listened to the Migos. My buddies used to call me Huncho just because they say it all the time in their songs.”
James van Riemsdyk – “Vansy”
JVR: “Michael Raffl would call me Vansy. There was a guy in Philadelphia before I was there. But we were just saying I have the worst nickname ever. So then I started calling him Raffsy. We just did it as a joke. We always refer to each other as that still to this day.”
Cole Sillinger – “Meatball”
Sillinger started by declaring the number-one rule when it comes to the nickname. “The one thing is I know you can’t choose your nickname. So whatever the boys are calling you, the boys are calling you.”
Now that the rules are settled, Sillinger got straight to the matter at hand.
“I’ve been called meatball my first year by some of the guys because I’m a pretty big eater, I guess. Just in general, my portions of food are always pretty big. I always like to go up for seconds and stuff like that. Guys always say I need energy. I don’t want to feel hungry. I guess that’s where meatball comes from.
I guess this means the next time Sillinger has a great game, he’ll be referred to as the “spicy meatball.”
Sean Monahan – “Monahanov”
Monahan: “I’ve had tons of nicknames for sure. Mony’s the go-to one. Guys are starting to call me Monahanov this year.”
Me: “They teaching you Russian?”
Monahan: “Yeah. I got a few songs now down. They’re good. A lot of communication with those guys (Chinakhov and Marchenko). Both are a lot of fun to be around.”
Sean Monahan is embracing the “Monahanov” nickname given by Yegor Chinakhov and Kirill Marchenko.
— Mark Scheig (@mark_scheig) October 24, 2024
Monahan said that they’re teaching him Russian music now.
“I got a few songs down now.” a smiling Monahan said. #CBJ
Zach Aston-Reese – “Aston 3:16”
There is Stone Cold Steve Austin and Austin 3:16. But then there’s Aston 3:16.
“My brother and his friends did WWE wrestling. My wrestling name was Zachary Banks. I’ve never gotten to see it live.”
Even with all the shows that came through Pittsburgh, Aston-Reese never got to see a show live. It was then he revealed he had a T-shirt that said “Aston 3:16”. That’s true dedication right there.
Damon Severson – “Army”
Severson: “A couple guys in New Jersey called me Army for a for a couple months. It’s a running joke. Because my name is Severson, they were like Seven Nation Army and then they ran with it. They started calling me Army from the song.”
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Kirill Marchenko – “Arbozneik”
You’re guess is as good as mine as to the meaning. But Marchenko said this was his weirdest nickname and provided that spelling of it.
Elvis Merzlikins – “Elvis Merzly Boy”
Merzlikins: “Because in Switzerland, they couldn’t really pronounce my last name. So it just became Merzly Boy.
Mikael Pyyhtia – “Tuna”
Pyyhtia admitted Tuna was the weirdest one he’s heard. He didn’t remember who started it but it started in Cleveland with the Monsters. The boys in the room have made sure that it sticks around so no one forgets.
David Jiricek – “The Czech Mob”
Jiricek: “The last 2-3 years in Cleveland, we were like 3-4 guys together. So we were Czech Mob. It was fun. They were always saying Czech Mob’s coming.”
This consisted of Jiricek, Stanislav Svozil, Samuel Knazko and someone else he referred to as “Taf.”
Beat Writer’s Nicknames
Aaron Portzline – “sportzline”
Portzline: “In high school, I was sportzline. Little s before the last name. I think we used that in the high school newspaper, the Jacket Journal, for columns and such. There are probably nicknames behind the scenes that have not been revealed to me. I assume that’s gone on in the past.”
I’m sure we all have those nicknames somewhere. Maybe.
Brian Hedger – “Butter”
Hedger shared a story about being at a friend’s house and trying to get a piece of chocolate. He found a butter knife which happened to be sharper than expected. He attempted to cut off a piece of chocolate that was in the freezer and the knife cut his hand so deep it went to the bone.
To those that know the story, they call him Butter or Butter Knife.
Mark Scheig – “Shaggy”
One question followed me my entire childhood. “Hey Shaggy, where’s Scooby?”
I gave the same answer every time. “Why getting a Scooby snack, of course.”
What else would Scooby be doing anyway?