chalk_one_up
10-06-2010, 12:31 PM
Courtesy of: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Vannieuwenhuizen+name+remember+Giants+blueline/3628466/story.html
It's always nice to have a big-name player on your roster and the Vancouver Giants have one of the biggest.
Defenceman Wes Vannieuwenhuizen carries 16 letters in his family handle, which surpasses almost everyone in hockey with the exception of New Jersey's Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond – and Letourneau-Leblond needs a hyphen to reach 17.
Vannieuwenhuizen's name is too long for the traditional name bar on a hockey sweater. It's too long to fit in regular font on the Giants' game-day lineup sheets. It's too long for coach Don Hay to bark out during games.
“He's one player I don't call by his last name, I don't have enough time to get it out,” chuckled Hay. “I call him Wes. Or Vandy.”
For Giants' equipment manager Grant Ferguson, there was only one solution. He shrunk the letters so Vannieuwenhuizen's name wouldn't go elbow-to-elbow on the back of his No. 5 jersey. Ferguson has been in the business 19 year and 16 letters was a record for him.
“When I was with Lethbridge, we had a goalie there named Ryan Papaioannou,” said Ferguson. “I think that was 14 [actually 11]. Vannieuwenhuizen is the longest one I've ever had. When I initially made his name bar last season, he was a callup so I was picking letters off old name bars and it went from one elbow pad to the other. For this year, we brought the font down so his name is basically shoulder to shoulder now.
“It was a wee bit of a trainer's nightmare. I was going to send his mother a bill for a spool of thread.”
Vannieuwenhuizen, 18, merely smiles at all the fun stuff surrounding his name. It's Dutch and his grandfather brought it across the Atlantic following World War II. There has never been a mention of shortening it. (Did you know Trevor Linden's family name was shortened from van der Linden?)
Wes – let's be informal here – said all the Vannieuwenhuizens are happy being Vannieuwenhuizens.
“They're pretty proud of it,” explained Wes, who was born in Victoria and raised in Chilliwack. “Growing up, I've always been taught to be proud of my name.”
Wes has admittedly made some concessions to brevity. He calls himself Wes rather than Wesley, which is his full first name. When he signs autographs or cheques, it's usually V-a-n... and a bunch of squiggles.
Best of all, though, Wes is finally making a name for himself as a regular on the Giants blueline. He was taken 129th overall in the 2007 bantam draft and has spent three years polishing his game. For the mostpart, he skates on Hay's top defensive pairing with NHL draft-eligible star David Musil.
“When I got re-assigned to junior A [Surrey] last year, they told me they wanted me to be a faster and a harder-on-the-puck player,” he said. “This season I feel I've really progressed with my skating and skills. I feel a lot more confident on the blueline and I think the coaches are a lot more confident in me, too.”
Hay is happy to confirm that Vannieuwenhuizen is playing the Hay way, which is far better than the highway.
“He's a stay-at-home type of guy, he defends well and he's getting better at moving the puck,” Hay commented. “He's been really consistent. He's done a good job for us this year.”
I had a chuckle at this article. So just to stir my curiosity, what is the correct pronunciation?
It's always nice to have a big-name player on your roster and the Vancouver Giants have one of the biggest.
Defenceman Wes Vannieuwenhuizen carries 16 letters in his family handle, which surpasses almost everyone in hockey with the exception of New Jersey's Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond – and Letourneau-Leblond needs a hyphen to reach 17.
Vannieuwenhuizen's name is too long for the traditional name bar on a hockey sweater. It's too long to fit in regular font on the Giants' game-day lineup sheets. It's too long for coach Don Hay to bark out during games.
“He's one player I don't call by his last name, I don't have enough time to get it out,” chuckled Hay. “I call him Wes. Or Vandy.”
For Giants' equipment manager Grant Ferguson, there was only one solution. He shrunk the letters so Vannieuwenhuizen's name wouldn't go elbow-to-elbow on the back of his No. 5 jersey. Ferguson has been in the business 19 year and 16 letters was a record for him.
“When I was with Lethbridge, we had a goalie there named Ryan Papaioannou,” said Ferguson. “I think that was 14 [actually 11]. Vannieuwenhuizen is the longest one I've ever had. When I initially made his name bar last season, he was a callup so I was picking letters off old name bars and it went from one elbow pad to the other. For this year, we brought the font down so his name is basically shoulder to shoulder now.
“It was a wee bit of a trainer's nightmare. I was going to send his mother a bill for a spool of thread.”
Vannieuwenhuizen, 18, merely smiles at all the fun stuff surrounding his name. It's Dutch and his grandfather brought it across the Atlantic following World War II. There has never been a mention of shortening it. (Did you know Trevor Linden's family name was shortened from van der Linden?)
Wes – let's be informal here – said all the Vannieuwenhuizens are happy being Vannieuwenhuizens.
“They're pretty proud of it,” explained Wes, who was born in Victoria and raised in Chilliwack. “Growing up, I've always been taught to be proud of my name.”
Wes has admittedly made some concessions to brevity. He calls himself Wes rather than Wesley, which is his full first name. When he signs autographs or cheques, it's usually V-a-n... and a bunch of squiggles.
Best of all, though, Wes is finally making a name for himself as a regular on the Giants blueline. He was taken 129th overall in the 2007 bantam draft and has spent three years polishing his game. For the mostpart, he skates on Hay's top defensive pairing with NHL draft-eligible star David Musil.
“When I got re-assigned to junior A [Surrey] last year, they told me they wanted me to be a faster and a harder-on-the-puck player,” he said. “This season I feel I've really progressed with my skating and skills. I feel a lot more confident on the blueline and I think the coaches are a lot more confident in me, too.”
Hay is happy to confirm that Vannieuwenhuizen is playing the Hay way, which is far better than the highway.
“He's a stay-at-home type of guy, he defends well and he's getting better at moving the puck,” Hay commented. “He's been really consistent. He's done a good job for us this year.”
I had a chuckle at this article. So just to stir my curiosity, what is the correct pronunciation?