I’ll give Steelheads head coach Hardy Sauter credit … he certainly has a sense of humor.

A little over six months ago, an opposing player’s last name had the home team’s play-by-play broadcaster so flummoxed that he resorted to identifying him only as “Lewis” and repeatedly apologizing to the family of the player if they happened to be listening to the broadcast online.

Tuesday, the home team traded for that player. That leaves the broadcaster (me) in the awkward position of having to get the player’s last name correct for 72 games this coming season instead of a mere handful of contests.

(*sigh*)

To be fair, I think I did a pretty decent job with Aaron Lewadniuk’s last name (loo-WAD-nee-uk) the rest of the season. But that first night … February 1 at Qwest Arena … was ugly. He was known as everything from Aaron Loodnuk to Lawidnuk to Lieuwendyk (not to be confused with Joe NIEUWENDYK, the general manager of the Dallas Stars) and, eventually, Lewis.

Lewadniuk assisted on Ontario’s only goal that night and was all over the ice, so I had many, many chances to bludgeon his name. I didn’t miss a-one of ‘em, either. If I even saw the puck trickling toward number 20 in a Reign jersey, I started to get the cold sweats.

I actually toyed with the idea of calling him CJ Stretch, another Ontario forward, every time because his name was simpler. And hey – we’re on the radio. Who is gonna know? Well, the people watching online via the America One Network would know. But, that way, only PART of my audience would think I was a moron, instead of everyone as they listened to me stammer through Le … Lew … Lewahhh … Lewi …. Lewadniuk’s name every time he skated the puck into the offensive zone.

What made it all the worse for me is my last name – Hoenike. Hen-uh-key. It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue the first time you see it, so I’m sensitive to killing names. Ontario doesn’t travel a broadcaster, so I didn’t have the luxury of asking the Voice of the Reign because … well … they don’t have one.

Left me on my own and I did a poor job that night. When I heard that Coach Sauter had pulled off a trade with Ontario, I was praying it’d be anyone but Lewadniuk. Not because he’s a bad player … he’s pretty good, scoring a goal and adding three assists against Idaho last season for a team that didn’t score a whole lot … but because I didn’t want to have to run the risk of introducing myself as the guy who didn’t have a clue how to say his last name.

As for the trade itself, I think it’s a great trade for both sides. Geoff Irwin, without question, is one of my all-time favorites. I absolutely love the way he plays and he’s genuinely a good kid. That gets thrown around a lot, but let me tell you a quick anecdote to back up my claim.

Last February, the team volunteered at the Freedom Resource Center, handing out food to needy people in Canyon County. It was a breezy, chilly day at the Idaho Center and the distribution line was outside. As players started to leave, I was in charge of getting their jerseys back. They all returned promptly and orderly, except for Irwin – because he stayed. On his own, without being asked to do so.

“There are still people in line,” he told me when I told him he didn’t have to stay.

Sauter and previous coach Derek Laxdal put a premium on character people in the locker room and, in my opinion, Geoff Irwin is a poster child for a high-character kid who happens to be a dang good hockey player.

Geoff Irwin is a good hockey player. Aaron Lewadniuk is a good hockey player. You don’t score 52 goals in two seasons in the Western Hockey League (and 17 more in Ontario last season) without sorta knowing what you’re doing on the ice. It’s tough to lose Geoff, but we’ll still get to see him a few times this coming season (Ontario’s first trip to Boise is January 6 and 7) … and, as the old adage goes, you’ve got to give up something of value to get something of value.

Even if the value comes with a name that gives the home team’s broadcaster a case of the yips.