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Knocking down 'Bulin Wall' as the NHL's greatest nickname

greg wyshynski

For your summertime diversionary pleasure, Mike Kamrowski of The Hockey Writers presents the 10,323rd "best nicknames in hockey history" list on the web, but with a rather bold move at the top: Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin(notes), a.k.a. "The Bulin Wall," gets put over The Great One, Mr. Hockey and the Dominator. From THW:

The NHL has been around for a very long time, 93 years to be exact. A lot has happened in that timeframe, including war and conflicts with other countries, and that comes over to the world of hockey as well.

The point I'm trying to make is: do you really think a nickname like "The Bulin Wall," donned on a RUSSIAN player would have passed in the 1980's? What about the 1950's, during the era of McCarthyism and the intense US hatred of Russians? Not likely, and that's another good reason the Cold War is over.

Oh, totally. In fact, if Evgeni Malkin(notes) was nicknamed "Stalin McRedScare," there wouldn't even be the need for a list. Best. Nickname. Ever.

Weird, geo-political arguments aside, "The Bulin Wall" is a great nickname. It may be even Top 10. It's just not The Great One or Mr. Hockey or Rocket or The Hammer or Terrible Ted; but it is leaps better than some of the choices in The Hockey Writers' compilation. ("Frank the Tank"? What the Hell?)

For more hockey moniker distractions, check out The 10 Strangest Old School Hockey Nicknames via Ranger Pundit; a lament about how generic nicknames have become via the St. Pete Times; another Top-10 list that's already better than the one above for its inclusion of "Knuckles" Nilan; Alien Hockey's "How To Create Hockey Nicknames" post; and ESPN Page 2's list of the best nicknames in hockey history.

Look, we can argue until training camp about the best hockey nickname; so let's just save ourselves some time and agree that it's The Chicoutimi Cucumber, shall we?