Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens’ Players Nicknames: Petey, KK, Gally, MegaMind & Tuna
Players’ nicknames help them have some fun because they spend so much time together. What are some of the nicknames of players on the Montreal Canadiens?
Last season, for a good cause, the Montreal Canadiens tweaked their names on their warm-up jerseys as a way to raise funds for the Montreal Canadiens’ Children’s Foundation. In an interesting article written by Matt Cudzinowski @CanadiensMTL / canadiens.com (December 4, 2018), Cudzinowski outlined both the cause and the nicknames that some of the Canadiens’ players had.
The jerseys were autographed and auctioned off to raise funds for the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation, which hosted the 10th edition of its RadioTéléDON shortly afterward.
As I was researching the Montreal Canadiens for another topic, I came across this article and found it interesting enough so I thought I would share some of the nicknames with fans of the Canadiens.
What are some of the Canadiens’ Players Nicknames?
Jeff Petry
Jeff Petry says that his nickname wasn’t always “Petey.” When he was in Junior, his nickname was “Dish,” as in petri dish. In high school, it was “Peaches” because it was his father’s nickname when he played baseball. [Jeff’s father Dan Petry was a former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, California Angels, Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox.]
Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s nickname “KK” was a Canadiens’ original name. Why? As Kotkaniemi noted, “My name is pretty hard to spell when you hear it, so “KK” seems to be pretty easy.” The 19-year-old Finn noted the he actually had another nickname “Moomin,” which was from a Finnish cartoon. He thought that was kind of funny. As well, he also was called “Jeppu” in Finland, which he said was the main nickname.
For those who care, the Moomins are characters in a series of children’s books and a comic strip by Finnish illustrator Tove Jansson. They are a family of white, round fairy tale characters with large snouts that make them look like hippopotamuses. See the YouTube link below to watch a Moomin cartoon.
Brendan Gallagher
Brendan Gallagher might have more nicknames than anyone on the Canadiens’ team right now. Canadiens’ captain Shea Weber noted that he had about 15 nicknames. Gallagher says he’s good with most of them.
He noted that, because the team spends so much time together, the nicknames help the team joke around a little bit. He noted, “It’s nice to have some laughs, and that’s (nicknames are) just part of it.”
His most common nickname is “Gally,” which he suggested was because one his previous coaches simply didn’t want to call him Brendan anymore.
Max Domi
Speaking of Gallagher, he often creates nicknames at his teammates’ expense. Specifically, he calls Max Domi “Megamind.” Why? Because, according to Gallagher, “He’s just got a big head.” Although Domi doesn’t agree with that big head part, he says that the nickname really works because he has “a big mind.”
By the way, Domi’s nickname on his jersey that was part of the raffle was “Shootsy,” which emerged from his playing days with former teammate Jason Demers in Arizona.
Tomas Tatar
Perhaps Tomas “Tuna” Tatar has the most interesting nickname. He’s called Tuna because, when he was playing in Detroit, teammate Tomos Holmstrom coined the nickname from the appetizer “Tuna Tatare,” which was short for a fish recipe involving Tatar’s surname. Tatar noted, “It’s like the appetizer so I guess the tuna kind of sticks with me.” It’s one of the most interesting nicknames in the NHL.
For anyone who wants to read this article, follow the link in the first paragraph of this post.

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