Sunday, August 24, 2008

What gives?

I was checking out the Lightning's Web site just now, getting an early start for training camp. I wanted to learn how to pronounce Swedish defenseman Janne Niskala's last name.

Is it NIS-ka-la? Or is it nis-KAL-a? It could even be NISK-ah-la.

It's too bad, though, I couldn't find the correct pronunciation -- a basic step to getting an autograph -- on Tampa Bay's Web site. I don't expect one for, say, goalie Mike Smith. Niskala, however, could use a phonetic pronunciation.

Now, if I want to learn how to pronounce the last name of Chicago's Dustin Byfuglien, a right winger out of Minnesota, all I had to do was visit the Blackhawks' Web site.

Another thing I noticed about the Lightning's homepage: There's no reference to Tampa Bay's 2004 Stanley Cup championship.

1 comment:

Drew said...

Inside tip from the Finn: While Niskala may be from Sweden, he has an unmistakably Finnish name (it happens; there are lots of Swedes in Finland and lots of Finns in Sweden; sometimes the Norwegians make their way into the mix as well). Finnish names, words, whatever, 99.9% of the time have the stress on the first syllable. So it would be NIS-ka-la.

I can always spot a non-Finn when they pronounce Lehtonen as luh-TOE-nen (usually the same people who call a sauna a SAW-na).