Ukrainians in the NHL

[AtNightWeFly]

We like to refer to ourselves as Pukes.

Isn't that what fans of Slipknot call themselves? Or is that Insane Clown Posse?

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

Isn't that what fans of Slipknot call themselves? Or is that Insane Clown Posse?

nah bruh

we are juggalos

 

[Atas2000]

Gretzky had some Ukrainian heritage iirc

Belorussian is the only proven one. His grandmother was from the Ukraine, but that doesn't necessarily makes her ukrainian.

If your last name ends in 'sky', you're probably Ukrainian-descent.

e.g. Dave Andreychuk, Dale Hawerchuk, Keith Tkachuk

Mainly just 'chuk' for NHL purposes.

Utter nonsense. -sky or -ski might mean polish, russian, belorussian(Gretzky), ukrainian or jewish decent.

-uk can easily be belorussian.

I meant Canadian-Ukrainian. Sorry for not being specific. The Ukes I met argued that Dubnyk and Parayko were Ukrainian for example, but I can't tell by their last names.

Doubt it with Dubnyk. From what I know he has czech roots. Parayko has ukrainian roots.

Like second generation full blooded Ukrainians or where's the cut off?

Exactly. in a country of immigrants like Canada pretty much everyody has different roots. How do you assign them?

just ethnic Ukes. 2nd generation, 5th generation - doesn't matter. If you are Irish, you are Irish no matter what generation.

Ethnic ukes are people with both ukrainian father and mother. You sentence about being irish is just hilarious though.

Gretzky is Ukrainian and Polish.

Beloraussian actually. Ukrainian or polishroots aren't actually a proven thing there.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Lots of big name former NHLers with Ukrainian roots.

Gretzky, Bossy, Hawerchuk, Sawchuk, Barilko, Mosienko, Broda, Shack, Andreychuk, etc.


Apparently only a few active players though.

Bozak, Lupul and Tootoo.

Albeit American, I'll be shocked if Tkachuk didn't have Ukrainian roots.

BTW, weren't Gretzky's roots Belarussian?

 

[Treb]

As per EP, the most notable active players I could find:

ECHL/AHL: Akim Aliu
AHL: Dmytro Timashov

OHL: Alexander Chmelevski (1st/2nd round for 2017)

KHL: Vladimir Tkachev (not the Oilers one, the other one)
Nikolai Zherdev
Alexei Ponikarovsky
Alexander Materukhin

Women Polish hockey league: Tetiana Onyshchenko (2nd best scorer this year)

 

[Bobby Orr's Knees]

Any "chuk" is a Ukrainian. Dave Andreychuk for sure, he's talked about his heritage. My wife says Dubnyk is a common Ukrainian last name. What about Chipchura? Parayko makes sense. A Scandinavian looking bloke with a Slavic last name.

 

[Niet]

Tons of people of Ukrainian descent in Alberta. Edmonton isn't called Edmonchuk for nothing.

 

[Makar Goes Fast]

Tavares is Portuguese

 

[SoundAndFury]

Any "chuk" is a Ukrainian.

Yes like that Kovalchuk guy from Tver who captained Russian NT countless times. Ukrainian confirmed.

That's like saying any something-son in the USA is Swede.

 

[NoMessi]

Any "chuk" is a Ukrainian. Dave Andreychuk for sure, he's talked about his heritage. My wife says Dubnyk is a common Ukrainian last name. What about Chipchura? Parayko makes sense. A Scandinavian looking bloke with a Slavic last name.

The blonde gene first came from Ukraine, If my memory serves me right. So maybe we Scandinavians actually looks Ukrainian.

 

[major major]

Belorussian is the only proven one. His grandmother was from the Ukraine, but that doesn't necessarily makes her ukrainian.



Utter nonsense. -sky or -ski might mean polish, russian, belorussian(Gretzky), ukrainian or jewish decent.

-uk can easily be belorussian.



Doubt it with Dubnyk. From what I know he has czech roots. Parayko has ukrainian roots.



Exactly. in a country of immigrants like Canada pretty much everyody has different roots. How do you assign them?



Ethnic ukes are people with both ukrainian father and mother. You sentence about being irish is just hilarious though.
.

You're right that the suffixes are often shared between multiple Slavic countries or even more broadly. People have been moving from country to country for a long time, not just from "the old country" to Canada.

But it's fuzzier than just "two Ukrainian parents" whether someone counts as ethnic Ukrainian or not. You'll find people with one grandparent who strongly identify with it and you'll find people with two Ukrainian parents who refuse to identify that way.

Simple workaround: have the OP specify that they're looking for Canadian players with some Ukrainian heritage. That's what the OP actually wants anyways.

 

[Bobby Orr's Knees]

Yes like that Kovalchuk guy from Tver who captained Russian NT countless times. Ukrainian confirmed.

That's like saying any something-son in the USA is Swede.

If we get into the whole Russian/Ukrainian ethnic thing, it will get very complicated very quickly. A "chuk" from Canada is likely of Ukrainian descend. Kovalchuk from Russia can be a mix of Ukrainian, Russian, Mongolian, Korean or any other ethnicity living in Russia. No need to complicate things too much. The OP was about Canadian Ukes.

 

[tarheelhockey]

In the late 1950s, the Bruins rolled the "Uke Line" of Johnny Bucyk, Bronco Horvath, and Vic Stasiuk.

They became the first line in NHL history in which all three players scored 20 goals. The line was broken up in 1960, the year that Horvath led the league in goals and missed the scoring title by only 1 point.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Any "chuk" is a Ukrainian. Dave Andreychuk for sure, he's talked about his heritage. My wife says Dubnyk is a common Ukrainian last name. What about Chipchura? Parayko makes sense. A Scandinavian looking bloke with a Slavic last name.

Dub in Russian and potentially in Ukrainian means oak. So I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[Tasteless Beaver]

Datsyuk sounds like a Ukrainian name too.

 

[Jets]

Colby Robak, Johnny Boychuk

 

[plock]

I dunno, just ethnic Ukes. 2nd generation, 5th generation - doesn't matter. If you are Irish, you are Irish no matter what generation. I was curious because the guys I met mentioned a couple of players that I wouldn't identify as Ukrainian myself. Names don't end with 'chuk'...

My mother is Irish (born and raised in Ireland) I have an Irish Passport and have lived there at times for a number of years but I was born and raised in the USA and consider myself an American.

 

[CanadienShark]

I dunno, just ethnic Ukes. 2nd generation, 5th generation - doesn't matter. If you are Irish, you are Irish no matter what generation. I was curious because the guys I met mentioned a couple of players that I wouldn't identify as Ukrainian myself. Names don't end with 'chuk'...

Huh?

I've got Irish family, does that make me Irish even though I'm maybe 5-10% Irish? Your rationale seems to be... lacking. You're just basing your opinion off whatever you feel or think.

 

[The Head Crusher]

One of friend's Baba, Ukrainian born grandmother, used to have a saying to describe the men in her family. It was something along the lines of "Big like Combine, Strong like Tractor." And she wasn't wrong.

 

[Alwalys]

AECHL/AHL: Akim Aliu

well that was unexpected!

 

[The Head Crusher]

Huh?

I've got Irish family, does that make me Irish even though I'm maybe 5-10% Irish? Your rationale seems to be... lacking. You're just basing your opinion off whatever you feel or think.

This has been the topic of debate in the Social Studies class that I teach. We have been looking at the concept of identity, both individual and collective. My students seem to be all across the board based on their answers on whether they can claim to be apart of that collective identity (Irish, Scottish, German, etc.) even if they do not live there or have any direct family members living there, do/don't share the same cultural traits, ect.

Personally I like to think that I am Scottish, even though I am 6 generations removed from a direct descendant actually living in Scotland. I am sure though if I go to Scotland and make this claim I will be told I am not Scottish.

 

[CanadienShark]

This has been the topic of debate in the Social Studies class that I teach. We have been looking at the concept of identity, both individual and collective. My students seem to be all across the board based on their answers on whether they can claim to be apart of that collective identity (Irish, Scottish, German, etc.) even if they do not live there or have any direct family members living there, do/don't share the same cultural traits, ect.

Personally I like to think that I am Scottish, even though I am 6 generations removed from a direct descendant actually living in Scotland. I am sure though if I go to Scotland and make this claim I will be told I am not Scottish.

For sure, I get that. You identify with whatever you like. That's kind of my point.

I identify as a Canadian with Nordic (and to a lesser extent British) heritage. I'm farther removed from my Nordic heritage than British though (three of my grandparents were/are Canadian) - I know zero Nordic family, while my granddad was a Brit. I'm probably about 60-65% Nordic, 30-35% British, and a few other western European backgrounds.

 

[WarriorofTime]

I dunno, just ethnic Ukes. 2nd generation, 5th generation - doesn't matter. If you are Irish, you are Irish no matter what generation. I was curious because the guys I met mentioned a couple of players that I wouldn't identify as Ukrainian myself. Names don't end with 'chuk'...

I mean if someone were 5th generation, it's pretty unlikely the bloodline has been kept "pure Ukrainian" so to speak. I bet there's a lot of players in the NHL with one Ukrainian grandparent that wouldn't be immediately obvious. You'd have to trace all NHL players' lineage to get a good idea for your question.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Considering most guys in North America are like 3rd/4th/5th generation, you can't just look at last name to make a determination. It's likely that they're a mix of a bunch of stuff. The last name is only going to trace their Paternal grandfather. If a matrilineal line has some sort of ethnic heritage, it wouldn't be apparent at all in the last name.

 

[oil4life97]

Daymond Langkow