Philadelphia Flyers: Owen Tippett lands a fantastic nickname

A nickname alone can’t make or break a player’s career.

If a player can’t go, having a fun or even marketable nickname won’t save their career – I mean, need I say more than Mr. Universe himself, Ilya Bryzgalov, or the player who would scare him, the Ghost Bear? – but goodness, when it works and an already great player has a solid nickname to go along with it, well, it can seriously tighten their historical status.

Dave “The Hammer” Schultz. “Hexy.” “Jonesy,” if you want to take things to the booth. Heck, the Philadelphia Flyers rode their own nickname, “The Broad Street Bullies,” through their championship-winning years, and the moniker helped to embody the run in its entirety.

Will new Philadelphia Flyers forward Owen Tippett eventually join that list? Only time will tell, but he already has the nickname part down pat, as the Flyers’ own Twitter account just settled on a darn good one that should stick for years to come.

Color + food  = a fantastic new nickname for a young Philadelphia Flyers forward.

Though his time with the Philadelphia Flyers is just beginning, most have surmised the same basic initial reaction to Owen Tippett.

For one thing, he’s got great size for an NHL forward. At 6-foot-1, 207 pounds, Tippett is the fourth-biggest forward on the Flyers’ roster behind Kevin Hayes, James van Riemsdyk, and Patrick Brown. He’s also, to his credit, the owner of one of the best right shots on the Flyers’ roster, with a whip-quick trigger right up there with Cam Atkinson.

… oh yeah, and he has the reddest hair you’ll ever see; there’s that too.

Despite sharing a set of grandparents with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s normal hair-colored center Mitchell Stephens, the native of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, has a flowing mane more orange than the Orange and Black, with a red-ish hint that one would almost assume is fake if his beard didn’t match.

Orangish/red hair long hair with a Lactuca-y texture? I wonder if one could incorporate that into a nickname?

Enter the social media manager of the official Flyers Twitter account, who hit this one out of the park.

https://twitter.com/NHLFlyers/status/1506412554410733569?s=20&t=cjE2PNP9HVzdX2hcW0-cuQ

“Red Lettuce?” Yeah, that’s good.

Will fans embrace “Red Lettuce?” Only time will tell. Should fans embrace “Red Lettuce?” Oh yeah, you’d best believe it. While his on-ice play will ultimately decide whether he’s remembered like Ilya Bryzgalov or the player he’s replacing, Claude Giroux, if things work out well, having that nickname will serve as the cherry on top.