5 wildest New Jersey Devils nicknames for current players

Earlier this week, an episode of Jeopardy!, New Jersey Devils legend and greatest goaltender of all time Martin Brodeur was mentioned in a question. Devils fans loved that their superstar goalie came up on such a prominent game show, but something was off. It had nothing to do with the answer... err the question.

Satan's Wallpaper is a wild nickname, but it's also one almost none of us have heard of. Trust us, we've asked some people who have covered this team for decades, and they've never heard of it. Pucks and Pitchforks writer Trey Matthews even asked Martin Brodeur himself, and he said the nickname's debut came from Jeopardy!

Many believe that the nickname came from a simple producer search on Hockey Reference. The "Reference" sites have always been famous for the wildest nicknames on the planet. Kevin Durant has a laundry list of nicknames, like Easy Money Sniper, and Tom Brady's nickname, The Pharaoh. So, when it was announced that hockey players would be getting nicknames, the fun was just beginning.

So let's start our journey with the current NHL players. Which Devils players have the strangest nicknames? Surprisingly, Jack Hughes isn't on the list, despite Hockey Reference deeming his nicknames as Gentleman's Jack, and The Big Deal. Which nicknames are even crazier than this?

1. Luke Hughes
"Rusty"

Let's start with Jack's brother Luke. His nickname is "Rusty." This seems like a strange one, but we actually have a very good explanation for this. While Rusty as a nickname is usually used for those with red hair, that's not the case for the youngest Hughes brother. It's much simpler than this.

Devils reporter Amanda Stein did the research on this and found that it ties to Brad Pitt's character Rusty from Ocean's Eleven. Apparently, Rusty was eating in every scene, and Luke Hughes always seem to be eating whenever anyone is around. There's nothing wrong with snacking.

This nickname does have an origin at least, so Hockey Reference is right on the ball here. This isn't some fan-made or writer-created nonsense.

2. Erik Haula
"Haula Back", "Haula-luiah"

Okay, seriously, where did this come from? "Haula-luiah" is the nickname for Erik Haula? Who came up with that? We've never seen it written. We've never heard it spoken. This name seems like it came from the clear blue sky.

We've checked everywhere to find where this name came from. It's literally not mentioned on Twitter. The only time we saw it mentioned on Facebook was when people were misspelling Hallelujah. There are no media articles that mention this nickname. We cannot find it anywhere.

Haula has been with a few teams. Maybe this was a fleeting nickname that came out of the mouth of a Hurricanes or Bruins play-by-play guy. We have no idea, we're literally guessing.

Then, there's "Haula Back," which is a reference to Gwen Stefani's famous song "Hollaback Girl." For those who don't know, a "Hollaback Girl" is not a good thing to be. We did at least see this referenced in some goal tweets as far back as his Minnesota Wild days, so this is clearly coming from somewhere. The other one seems to be something that just sounded nice to say and slipped off the tongue.

3. Jesper Bratt
"Minion"

This one actually has a very funny story. Jesper Bratt dressed up as a minion from the Despicable Me movies back in 2019, and it’s just stuck. It’s been referenced ever since, and Bratt continues to see himself called “minion.” It was even referenced in an interview with the NHL Player’s Association back in 2020. 

Now, if you look hard enough, you can find plenty of people call Bratt a “minion.” There are a bunch of nicknames for Bratt, thanks to a creative Devils social media account. Bratt also does enough on the ice to warrant a few different nicknames.

The name Bratt also aligns itself to have plenty of nicknames. It rhymes with so much and adds itself to so many already established nicknames. Do you want to live off the Batman name? Now you have Brattman. Did you just score a Bratt trick? Jesper did that on Thursday night. Is Jesper Bratt? Ask Charlie XCX.

Yet, we’ve stuck with Minion. And that’s just fine. Even if he hasn’t dressed like a minion again (he dressed up as Ricky Bobby this year), the nickname isn’t going anywhere.

4. Jonathan Kovacevic
"Kovatizer"

NHL nicknames tend to miss a lot of creativity. Many names just end a “y” or “ey” to the end of a shortened or full version of a player’s last name. Hughesy, Marky, and Pally are all well-known nicknames that the team uses. Sometimes teams will stretch it to make this work. Brenden Dillon is “Dilly,” Dougie Hamilton is probably “Hammy,” and Dawson Mercer feels like he would accept the nickname “Mercy.” 

So, when “Kovy” is right there waiting for Johnathan Kovacevic, which is his nickname actually “Kovatizer?” 

Well, when the Canadiens we’re given the opportunity to put their nicknames on the back of their warmup jersey, that’s where the Kovatizer name became popular. Kovacevic chose this name, while others had more traditional nicknames. Current Devils teammate had his moniker Jake the Snake, which has followed him from St. Louis. 

Through a little more research, we learned it came from former Canadiens center Sean Monahan. He apparently looked at Kovacevic’s nameplate and went with “Kovatizer,” and honestly, sure.